My Father The Phantom
by Eriksangelofmusic4ever
Summary: "He kissed her one last time...and now Mother is gone and has left me in "His" care...A stranger No less..." What happens after Love Never Dies with Erik now caring for his son Gustave? E/Gustave/OC
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone, here's my newest idea for a story. I decided to write this because my Miracles of Madness story is almost complete….and so it's on with other projects. I probably won't update this again until after I finish Miracles of Madness just because having three stories at once is a little overwhelming. So please let me know if this should continue….and also Enjoy! **

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**Gustave's POV**

Since the day I was born, I had been calling my mother's husband _"father." _I always thought there was a possibility that perhaps I was switched at birth and given to the wrong parents because I always felt different. I was like an outcast when in the presence of my father….. His favorite pass time had been drinking and beating up on my poor mother. Never once did he ever play with me. In Paris I saw other sons playing with their father's and often wondered why mine could never do the same with me. Sometimes when drunk, my father would beat me with his leather belt and curse upon the day I was born. Even at a young age I begged my mother to take me away from him…take me someplace safe where I could fit in. Though she loved my father with all her heart it seemed, and we never did leave. In school I was smart, but the other children liked to make fun of me. I hated it ever so much, and would often pretended to be sick so my mother wouldn't make me go…..

I once asked my mother why I was so different, and she smiled upon me for asking such a question. She replied with a simple _"because you're your father's son…" _I never knew what this meant, because in reality I was nothing like her so called lover _Raoul_… I was my own person, I was an inventor, an artist, a lover of music and any instrument I could get my hands on. My father was none of those things. But never in my wildest dreams had I ever considered the thought of belonging to another man. My mother always spent her time with me or Raoul. She never went off by herself, and therefore I never considered there to be the possibility of belonging to someone else…_but it was true_…

I was ten years old when I met my real father…. It came by luck really. The drunkard I had been calling father since the day I was born was a rich man, and very well known around town. He took a business trip to Monte Carlo and had himself a few drinks too many and in doing so placed his entire fortune; _our_ entire fortune on the roulette table….and lost. Everything was gone…..and my father was in debt up to his eyes. My mother cried for days upon realizing that we were flat broke. Over the years, my mother had bought me several instruments to occupy my musical mind, but they were no more; for my father sold them to a pawn shop to obtain what ever money he could get. My mother turned into someone I hardly knew. She used to be this loving mother who would sit me in front of a piano and sing as I played, but that was no more…..She no longer sang, and she no longer smiled…..She was just a body frozen in the dark sands of time. As I had said before, I was ten years old when I met my real father…. It was as if he knew all about the trouble we were in, and sent us a miracle. For in our mailbox was a letter, addressed to my mother from a far away place called "Coney Island."…and his name was only addressed in the letter as Mr. Y….

Yes, Mr. Y… that name, that weird and mysterious name. He wanted my mother to come perform at his strange named amusement park known as "Phantasma." My mother was going to deny Mr. Y's request, but my father objected, and went on about how it would be the end of our money problems. When my mother disobeyed my father, he slapped her so hard, that she fell on the floor……he told her to pack and be ready to leave by the morning. What else could my mother do? And so she obeyed and packed. The boat ride to Coney Island was boring, and throughout the whole ride my father grew thirsty and hungry for his alcohol. By the time we arrived, and settled in our hotel room, my father left my mother an I alone. Earlier that day when we arrived, Mr. Y sent his three sideshow freaks to fetch us in the most beautiful yet mysterious carriage I had ever seen. I loved it just as much as my father hated it….he wasn't a happy man about having freaks taking us to our hotel room, but I didn't mind at all. It had been the most fun I had ever had.

My mother was troubled over my father leaving us, and she even begged him not to drink anymore. Though, I knew it would never happen……once a drunk, always a drunk. I only feared the beating that would most likely come later when he returned. My mother sent me to bed, and I soon fell into a terrible nightmare where someone was drowning me. I had always been afraid of drowning because I couldn't swim. I never begged my father for anything more than to teach me how to swim, but he always laughed and refused to teach me. When I awoke, I heard my mother raising her voice to someone….that other someone being a man. All I could think about at that second was that my father was home and already beating up on my mother, but when I came out of the bedroom, the man I saw was not my father. I'll never forget the first time I saw him….tall, deathly thin, pale, and a little older than my mother…and his face covered behind a white mask! My mother introduced him as "Mr. Y," and I recognized his name from my mother's letter. He rudely growled something that sounded like _"Little Viscount" _and turned away. I thought the man rude and paid no mind to him….but I would soon realize that this rude man was not just my mother's boss, but also my real father. Before sending me off to bed, he promised to show me around the island the following day…. I accepted, and went off to bed.

I was quite bored when my mother went to the theater the following day. She met an old friend she knew from long ago, and soon they were arguing about why my mother was asked to sing. I slipped away, and was lured by the three sideshow freaks who I now knew their names. One was called Ms. Fleck…half bird, half woman… The other Mr. Squelch….the strong man, and the last one Dr. Gangle….I still don't understand what his talent was because he was just creepy and well….creepy. They took me to some strange warehouse, where inside Mr. Y kept his weird inventions. Walking skeletons and a Medusa chandelier were just a few of the beautiful things he had stored within it. He was kinder today, and told me to look around while he finished his work….and there over in the corner, I found a beautiful piano. I hadn't played in so long because my father sold the two pianos we had within our home back in Paris. My fingers glided over the ivory keys, and Mr. Y even became interested in the way I played. I sat there singing a song I had within my head, as he circled the room as if he had just discovered something…..only then I didn't know that he was actually putting together the puzzle of how similar we both were. Mr. Y was like me in every way….he was wild and musical! He could throw together any invention that came into mind! And he could play any instrument that he could get his hands on! It was as we were long lost brothers…..only I didn't know then that we were actually father and son. We danced around as he showed me inventions and asked me questions about wanting to explore unknown destinations and about feeling amazing things when I sang. It was as if he were comparing our similarities….. He talked about things I never heard of…he talked about seeing the _"Beauty underneath.." _Only I soon found out that Mr. Y was anything but beautiful. He told me I was brave and could face any fear….and like an idiot I believed him. I took off his mask, and screamed at the mere sight of him. He was hideous! His face was twisted and horrifying. The flesh was malformed and red, and to make his appearance worse, there was a part of his skull that was exposed on the side of his head. I screamed so loud, that my mother came running in and I ran to her…..For some odd reason, my mother didn't find Mr. Y terrifying and actually looked him in the eye without fear.

She sent me away, and I obeyed her. It was as if I had hurt Mr. Y's feelings, because he avoided me at all cost for the next few days. It was as if he didn't want to be around me now that he knew I feared him just as much as I feared drowning. On the night of my mother's show, I helped her dress in her dressing room. She promised me after the show that she and I would spend some time together, and I became excited….only those were things that would never happen…. My father then came walking into the dressing room with not an ounce of alcohol on his breath and sober as could be. He asked me to leave, and my mother told me to stay behind the stage until she was finished. When I was out in the hallway, I noticed Mr. Y standing only a few feet away…..we made eye contact, but didn't exchange one word to each other. Soon he also entered my mother's dressing room, and left me alone within the hall. But it was mother's friend Meg that pulled me away from it all. She found me sitting bored against one of the backdrops, and pulled me up without even asking me to follow her. I tried to pull away, but she kept telling me that she had something really neat to show me at the pier. When we got there, she forced me into the ocean, and tried to push me under. When I told her I couldn't swim, she pulled out a gun, and held it to my head…..I was scared….so scared…..she wanted to drown me, just like in my dreams!

She would have probably succeeded, but it was my mother and Mr. Y that came to rescue me. I never expected Mr. Y to stand up for me, but he did. He pulled me aside, and back into my mother's arms while Meg pointed the gun at him. I could see fear in my mother's eyes, fear for her friend Mr. Y…..He tried to coax the gun out of Meg's hands, but her apparent jealousy over my mother's fame was too much, and the gun went off…..I closed my eyes, afraid to see Mr. Y laying there on the pier gushing blood….but instead, it was my mother. I was helpless, and didn't know what to do… Mr. Y screamed for someone to get help, but my mother was already loosing life. She was deathly pale, and weak. I cried for father, but my mother hushed me….and I'll never forget what she said…..

"You…your father….your real father….."

She was looking at Mr. Y who was cradling her within in his arms. Then it hit me….. Over the past few days, I had always seen something between them. My mother had called him her friend, but the way they acted around each other made it quite obvious that there was something more…. The look in my mother's eyes when she was around him, was as if she were deeply in love with Mr. Y….. I screamed…. Never had I ever screamed as loud as I did upon hearing this. I wouldn't believe it….I couldn't believe that Mr. Y….the man who's face I feared was my actual father!

Mr. Y sat there holding my mother's body close to him, crying and asking what to do about me? I didn't want to think about the possibility of loosing my mother, but what could I do? It was happening right in front of my own very eyes. She told him to just live and take all the love that he deserved…. She became even weaker, and I waited for her to just close her eyes, but instead, she gave Mr. Y her last request…..she asked him to kiss her one last time. And he did…..

The kiss they shared was so passionate…it was as if they had waited ten long years just to taste each other's lips again. My mother never gave Raoul a kiss like that…..they hardly kissed at all….. And as they were, my mother's arms dropped limp to her side…..she was gone…gone forever. My father mouthed "No" over and over again as he sobbed uncontrollably over my mother's body……she was gone, and wasn't coming back. He called her name several times, thinking that maybe, just maybe she would wake up….but she didn't….. His blue eyes were now looking at me, his mind full of fear about what was going to happen between us…..he lay my mother down, and I slowly stepped forward. He was my father…..that's all I had to keep telling myself. When we were inches apart, I reached out for his mask, but he turned away….. I knew he didn't want our first five moments as father and son to be filled with fear….but I could no longer find it within my heart to scream at the man who had helped my mother conceive me. Though, when I reached out this time, he removed the mask himself…… Once again the familiar horror of his face filled me, and he closed his eyes, waiting for the scream that never came. I still feared him, but refused to yell in his face. Instead, I closed the space in between us, and embraced my true father for the first time……..At first, I felt his heart pounding up against my chest, but after a few seconds, his arms wrapped around me as well, hugging me back…. It was going to be ok…. Everything was going to be ok….

But things were anything but ok…….My mother was no longer here, Raoul was missing for all I knew, and I was now left in the care of Him! Mr. Y…… a stranger no less! The man who I now knew as my father….my real father….and I was scared….

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**Ok, tell me what you think of it…..thanks! I shall update in the near future.**


	2. Chapter 2

**So I really didn't think this story was going to be any good, but apparently people are going nuts over it. I'm still quite sad that my Miracles Of Madness is over….I quite enjoyed writing it. But anyway, this story might grow on me… I'm actually excited about it! I've always wondered what happened after Christine died. So anyway, enjoy and please review!**

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**Gustave's POV**

I'll never forget my first night with my new father….. Soon the police came and arrested Meg, and took away my mother's body. I wasn't sure what was going to happen to her now, but I knew Mr. Y knew what to do. I stood there afterwards not making any sudden moves, staring down at my feet. The sun was going down, and soon all of Coney Island would come alive…. My father looked up at the sky, and back at me. He still had tears within his eyes, even after he replaced the mask back over his deformed face.

"It's getting dark…" he replied, his voice kind and comforting. "We should….we should head home.."

"Home?" I thought… "Home?" Where was home? Home was back in Paris at the DeChangy estate…. Home was with my mother and Raoul….. Coney Island was not my home. My eyes were full of tears, and I sobbed the whole way to Mr. Y's home. He walked in front of me, leading the way as I followed behind him like a little lost puppy. I tried not to sound as if I were crying, but I couldn't help it. After a while, he turned around, and snapped at me.

"Stop crying! It won't do you any good…"

It wasn't fair! It wasn't fair! He made it look like it was ok for him to cry, but it was a crime if I did it… I had thought us to return to the ware house that the three freaks took me to the other day, but we didn't… I had once asked them if Mr. Y lived there, but they responded with "This is where he works…" Mr. Y apparently lived in a flat that was high above the city. We walked up numerous amount of stairs before he produced a key that was hanging from a chain around his neck, and unlocked the door with it before tucking it back into his shirt. I always imagined Mr. Y's apartment being filled with beautiful artifacts and furniture that dated back to the fifteen hundreds, but when I got my first sight of where he lived, I was very disappointed. The space he lived in was….well, it was empty…. The brick walls were cracking, there was a terrible chill in the air, and the floorboards were old and made a creaking sound when you walked on them. In the far end of the room there was an old grandfather clock set up against the wall, with a metal bed frame sitting beside it with no mattress. On the other end of the room, there was an old rusty bath tub, and a wardrobe closet…. There was also a fireplace that looked as if it hadn't been used in years with cobwebs spun around its opening…and a desk set over near the window. The window however was the only positive thing about the flat. It stretched from one wall to the other with a wonderful view of Coney Island and the lights from the huge wonder wheel…The floor was covered in discarded sheets of music, and I stepped over them as I made my way over to the window to look out.

I knew Mr. Y never had any guests over because of the way he kept his flat. When I made it over to the window, I turned back to see him scrounging around, picking up the music sheets from the floor.

"I must apologize for the mess…" he said. "I'm not used to being in the presence of company. I'm never really here to begin with…."

"What do you mean?" I asked, wiping the tears from my eyes.

He looked up at me, his blue eyes staring into mine.

"I merely use this place for shelter from the night, a place to work when Coney Island has closed its gates for the night…."

I wrapped my arms around myself to shelter my body from the cold draft that was making me shiver. After Mr. Y finished gathering up the discarded papers, he placed them in a pile on his desk, and made his way over to the fireplace to light it.

"I'm sorry about the draft…." he mumbled. "I'm just so used to the cold."

He threw a few of his discarded music sheets into the pit to feed the first few flames, and stood there in the center of the room. It was such an awkward moment between him and I…. Here we were, father and son, and yet we had no clue on how to act around one another. He folded his long slender arms around his back, and glanced over towards the metal bed frame.

"Um….you must be hungry. Yes?"

I slightly shook my head, and watched him silently dash across the room to fetch something. I turned my glance back towards the window, and continued to look out at Coney Island, watching the Wonder Wheel go round and round. Soon, my father's reflection was staring at me, and I turned to see him standing there holding a red bowl within his bony hands.

"Here…."

He handed it to me, and I looked down at the mushy white substance within it.

"What is this?" I asked.

"Porage. Sadly, it's all I have at the moment…. I wasn't expecting company."

I wasn't really hungry. My mother's death had churned my stomach terribly, and looking down at such a meal made me sick. I sat it aside, and this made Mr. Y angry…..

"What? Is it not good enough for you? Has the Viscount filled your selfish little stomach with flaming yan, and red wine!"

This scared me… never had I ever thought that he contained such anger like this.. He came towards me, but never did he lay a hand on me. He simply clenched his fists, and let his rage out by hitting the bowl over and turning away…..

"My son! My own son raised by another man! And yet when he comes to me, he's filled with nothing but selfishness and high expectations!"

"That's not true…" I cried.

I cowered beside the window, watching him growl at me for back talking him. I stayed in that position for the next few minutes, watching him pace the floor like a mad animal. When he finally calmed down, he turned to me, and sighed.

"You must be tired….."

I didn't answer him, because I didn't want to make him mad. He turned away once again, and rummaged through his wardrobe closet before coming back with an oversized night shirt.

"Here, put this on.."

I took it from him, my hands shaking uncontrollably from his earlier anger. He turned away to give me some privacy as I stripped down to my underwear and slipped on the white shirt that reached all the way down to my ankles. Afterwards I placed my wet clothes over the fire to let them dry and turned to see Mr. Y placing a few pillows and blankets down on the floor behind me.

"You'll be sleeping here…" he stated. "It's warmer…"

I didn't want to live here, I wanted my mother…..I was even beginning to miss Raoul. I laid down in between the pillows and blankets before closing my eyes. I thought that if I went to sleep, I would wake and find my mother still alive, but I knew these were dreams and nothing more. Later that night I woke to the smell of smoke… I thought that perhaps the fire Mr. Y built was beginning to go out, but it wasn't… I stood up, and looked around to find that Mr. Y was not with me…. I saw a glow coming from over near the window, and looked out to see the worst sight I could ever witness…. There before my own very eyes, was Phantasma, burning down to absolutely nothing. It had once been a place for wonder, a place full of fun and joy, but now it was nothing more than a burning inferno…..and there down near the gates, I saw Mr. Y standing there looking at his fortune burning down to nothing….I knew he had set the fire… I could just sense it. It was as if he built Phantasma to bring my mother back to him, and now that she was no longer here, he hadn't any use for it anymore. Without my mother there was no Phantasma….it was as if he didn't want to see anyone having fun, or smiling, for these were the things he wouldn't be able to do without having her around. And if he couldn't be happy, no one could…..Phantasma had been a pure symbol of joy, and hope…and those were things that were no longer possible. When I saw him beginning his trek back to the flat, I dashed back to bed as if not to anger him, and pulled the covers over my head. I closed my eyes, and listened to the door opening, the sound of him sobbing uncontrollably, and finally, the sound of him crawling into the metal bed frame….

I lifted my head to see him laying there with a blanket pulled over him as he continued to sob. Over and over again he cried for my mother as if I weren't there. He cried for her to return, and he even cried for her to take him as well… he didn't want to be here with me…and I knew this. I knew he didn't want to raise me….and I couldn't blame him. I was once Raoul's punching bag, and now Mr. Y's disappointment. I hardly slept a wink the whole entire night because of how loud my father cried. When I awoke, I found him still laying in bed deathly pale….He seemed as though the life had been sucked out of him…..

"Mr. Y?" I stood by the side of his bed, calling his name to grab his attention.

He didn't answer me, and began coughing uncontrollably. He was sick…he had stayed up crying over my mother, and now he was sick.

"Mr. Y? Are you ok?"

Once again he didn't answer me…..and that's when a knock occurred at the door. I looked at my father, awaiting him to get up, but he never did. I rushed over to the door, hoping to see someone I knew, but instead it was an older woman dressed in black. She looked down upon me as if trying to see through me….

"Where is he?" she asked.

"Who?" I questioned.

"Who? Who else…. Your father…"

"He's sick…"

"Sick? Sick?" she burst her way through the door, and kicked the metal bed frame with her foot, causing my father to sit up.

"Get up, Erik…." she growled in a strong French accent.

"Erik?" I thought…. Was that my father's name?

"Why should I?"

"Because you have a child to care for, that's why. What's going to happen if something happens to you too? He'll be orphaned! But that's not the reason I came over here today….."

"Oh it's not?" he asked in a sarcastic tone.

"Erik! Phantasma has been burned down! I know that you have something to do with it…all our hopes, all our dreams, gone! All gone!"

"No! get one thing straight, Madame…. Phantasma was my hopes, my dreams, and my fantasies… It was mine to do what I wished with it and burning it down was my business."

"Two Hundred workers, Erik! Two hundred workers including myself….we have no place else to go…You have sent us to the dogs without warning, you have put the freaks back out into society…..what are they to do now?"

My father sat up, and went rushing over to his desk…..once more his anger poured out and wound up spilling all the paperwork off of it.

"What are they to do?" he growled at the top of his lungs…. "Is that all you think about? What are they to do? What am I to do? What am I to do with the boy! What am I to do without Christine!"

"You have gone ten long years without her, Erik! This is just the start of another long decade without her….."

"I don't want to go another decade without her! I was so close to making her mine again.. I was so close to making love to her again…She could have been my wife, she could have been with me until the day I died…but no….you're vicious little sneer took her from me in a jealous rage!"

My father was so close to the woman, that I thought for sure that he was going to lay his fist into her, but he didn't…..

"Tell me, Madame. How is Meg? Is she sorry yet?"

"She is asking for you….."

"Asking for me? Tell her that she can burn in hell for what she did…..tell her that if she even steps five feet in front of me, I'll snap her little neck…."

"She is asking for forgiveness…she is in jail, Erik, and she is asking for forgiveness…"

"And it will be a cold day in hell before she ever gets any ounce of forgiveness from me. She would have done better by shooting me…she didn't have to put Christine into it….."

"What do you suppose to do now?"

My father quickly glanced my way before turning back to the woman.

"First, I plan on burying my could have been wife…then I'm not sure…."

"Where will you bury her?"

"In Paris, by her father's grave…..she would have wanted it that way….Now if you have anything else left to say….."

"I'll be leaving now…."

When the woman left, my father coughed, and turned back to me….

"Get dressed….."

"Why?"

"We are leaving Coney Island….."

"And go where?"

"Stop asking me questions boy, and get dressed! There will be rules when it comes to staying with me, and one of those rules is not to question my authority…."

My heart was hurting, and all I could think about was why my mother ever loved him? He was cruel and possessive….He wasn't anything like my mother….

"I miss my mother…." I cried, pulling my clothes back over my body….

"Well she isn't coming back, now is she?"

"She could have left you with nothing…"

"Being left with nothing is just as bad as living ten years without even knowing you existed…..Which is worse? You tell me? Seems equally the same to me!"

"I'm here now…" I sobbed. "doesn't that mean anything to you?"

"No, it doesn't! and stop that crying…you're like a little girl….. You're acting like….like that bastard Raoul!"

"No I'm not!"

"Then stop that crying! I will not raise you to cry every time you're upset…."

"But it's alright for you to do it? You don't think I hear you? Wailing my mother's name in your sleep at night…"

"Take that back, you little brat!"

"No, I won't…."

"Come on, we're catching the next ship to Paris….."

"I'm not going! I'm not going with you!"

"And what are you to do? Sit here and fend for yourself?"

"I will, as long as I don't have to be with you!"

"Damn you, child! Why do you have to be so… so…."

He paused, pacing the floor in an angry rage.

"So…like me!"

"What do you mean?"

"You're so stubborn!"

"Like father like son, I guess…."

I stood there not budging one bit, until finally, my father took a breath to sooth his aggravation.

"Gustave, I'm…..I'm sorry about my earlier actions. I'm sure this is scary for you….."

"Yes, only because you make it scary…."

"Just listen to me….."

"I am…."

"I know this is scary for you, it's scary for me…. I never raised a child before, and I thought that your mother was going to be here to help…..things didn't work out that way and now I'm stuck with you…"

"I'm sorry, it must be a major inconvenience for you…. I always wanted my mother to die and leave me with a stranger…."

"Gustave…don't talk about your mother that way…"

"But it's true, Mr. Y…."

"I'm scared Gustave, scared that I'll screw up somehow. You don't understand how much I wished I could have been there when you were born…. If I would have known… If I had any idea at all about you, I would have been there since day one. I can't change the past, but I want to change the future….just please say you'll accept me to be in your life…."

My father was standing before me, begging me to accept him as my father. I knew my mother wanted it to be that way, but I couldn't….not just yet.

"I don't know you, Mr. Y…. and I know my mother wanted me to have this happy father son relationship, but I can't…not now. Maybe someday, but not now…."

"Understandable, I wouldn't expect you to come to me with open arms… not after neglecting you your whole ten years of existence…."

"You didn't neglect me…." I corrected. "You didn't know….and I'm not blaming you for this….I just want to get to know you better…."

"Fair enough…. So, will you come to Paris with me?"

"I guess….."

"Good, come along then….we shall not be returning to Coney Island. We will find comfort in Paris…."

"Why Paris?"

"Why it's where I'm from, boy…. I know Paris like the back of my hand, and I believe you will love it too…."

"You're acting like I've never been to Paris before. I lived there for ten years…."

"Ah, but have you ever seen the opera populaire?"

I shook my head.

"No, I have not…."

He smiled…

"Well then, you haven't seen Paris after all….."

I took one last look of Coney Island and the remains of Phantasma…..I wasn't sure if I would ever return to America, but at least I wasn't alone….

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**Ok, second update everyone! Please review. Oh, and incase you were wondering, Erik's flat description was actually taken from the "Till I hear you Sing" music video sung by Ramin… Just incase you wanted to see it for yourself incase my description wasn't enough to make a clear picture…. Ok, More to come soon! Thanks guys!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey everyone, thanks again for the reviews! Here's the next chapter…. Please review! Your reviews keep this story going….**

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**Gustave's POV**

And so we disembarked on the ship, headed back to Paris. I stood there on the deck, watching Coney Island disappear before my own very eyes… When it was no more, I followed my father down to the bottom deck of the ship where our room was. It was much smaller than the one I shared with my parents when we first came here, but it would do…. There was a desk up against the wall, a bed against the other wall, and a chamber pot placed underneath it.

My father placed his bag down on the floor, and stood over by the desk.

"You…you can have the bed."

"What about you?" I asked.

"I don't need sleep. I'm a night owl…."

I took a seat on the bed, and laid there watching my father sit at the desk writing away at a piece of parchment…..I lay there, pressing my head against the pillow, watching him closely.

"What are you writing?"

His fountain pen paused on the paper, and his eyes glanced over his shoulder…

"I don't really think you'd like me to tell you…."

"What is it?"

"Plans…"

"Plans for what?"

"Your…your mother's funeral."

I didn't want to think about having to bury my mother. I still had it in my head that she was going to meet us at the dock when we arrived in Paris. I didn't like to think about living my life without her, but sooner or later I knew I was going to have to face the facts.

"Does that not please you?" he asked.

"I don't like to think about her being gone for good."

"Me neither, Gustave…."

"I miss her….she used to sing to me at night, and tuck me in…."

"You'll always have the memories….just as I will."

"If you loved my mother, then why did you leave her? Where have you been the last ten years….."

"Gustave, it's a very complicated thing to talk about. One that you wouldn't understand…..I was ashamed at myself, ashamed that I had even dared to love her when I look like a monster….."

I rolled over, and didn't say another word to him….. Soon I drifted off into a deep slumber. I was so tired from the night before that I couldn't even keep myself awake. When I awoke however, my father was no longer in the room. I became scared… I thought that he left me….that he didn't want to be with me any longer. I gathered to my feet, and left my room not caring if I was venturing out alone. My mother never liked me going places by myself, but I needed to find Mr. Y…. The ship rocked back and forth, causing me to loose my balance more than once as I walked through the hallway. There were other passengers who didn't have rooms sitting on crates, and against the wall of the ship…they looked at me as I passed them, but I kept my mind on finding Mr. Y. I climbed up the stairs that led to the main deck, and gazed up at the night sky… Perhaps he jumped ship and left me for good….. It was then that I heard the sound of someone heaving, and looked across the way to see a dark figure leaning over the side of the ship, throwing up….

I only realized that it was Mr. Y after he turned to face me, his white mask glowing within the moonlight.

"What are you doing up here?" he asked. "Someone could have kidnapped you, and then what!"

"I…I thought you left me…."

"Left you? Where was I going to go? Overboard?"

I didn't want to cry in front of him, so I turned away and braced the metal railing of the ship….And when I was no longer facing him, only then did I let myself cry…. I thought that he had walked away, but after a few moments, I felt a hand touch my shoulder, and the familiar soft velvety voice calm me….

"Gustave…..I'm sorry. I should have told you I was leaving the room."

"My father left me, and my mother did too….." I sobbed. "You're all I have left…..there is no one else in this world if you go too."

"I'm not going anywhere…."

"Promise me…Promise me that you won't ever leave me alone again…"

"I promise you Gustave…..I won't ever leave you."

I wiped my eyes, and rested my head on top of my hands that were bracing the railing. Mr. Y then knelt down to my level, and wrapped his arm around my waist.

"You know, being out here at night is a good thing…."

"Why's that?"

"Because you can see the stars clearly…"

I looked up at the sky, and noticed that all the stars were very there shining bright within the night…Mr. Y pointed to a small one, and I tried to see the exact one he was pointing to….

"Do you see that one?…the little one to the right.."

"Yes…"

"That's the little dipper…."

"How do you know?"

He took my hand, and pointed my hand in some strange pattern.

"See?" he questioned.

"Which one do you think is mother?" I asked, looking back at him.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Mother once told me that when you die, you become a bright star in the sky."

Mr. Y looked back up at the stars, glancing around for a few moments before pointing to the brightest one.

"Right there…."

"Why that one?"

"Because it's the brightest star….your mother always did shine bright…."

It was then that Mr. Y let me go, and leaned over the side of the railing, throwing up once again….

"Are you ok?" I asked. "You get motion sick?"

"Yes, well, the unsteady rocking of this ship doesn't help much….."

"Why do you get motion sickness?"

"I've been that way ever since I was a child."

"When did it start?"

"I used to always be in this cage on wheels…it would constantly bump up and down when it moved, and I've just been sick ever since….I rather enjoy walking than having to take any kind of transportation…"

"A cage?" I questioned.

"Those are questions for another time….come along, we should be getting back to our room."

"Ok…"

I followed my father back to our room, where I laid down on the bed, and covered myself up. Mr. Y approached my bed, and stood there not knowing what to do…I thought he was going to tuck me in, but he didn't.

"Um…goodnight then, Gustave…."

I wanted my mother…I wanted her to be standing where Mr. Y was. I wanted her to tuck me in and sing me to sleep…. He wasn't like her, not one bit! He wasn't loving, he didn't act like a father….he acted like some stranger, afraid to touch his own flesh and blood. As much as I didn't care for him, I still wanted to be held, to be comforted…..it's as if I needed the same attention my mother used to give me, stranger or not. I looked up at him from my pillow, and wondered what to say.

"Mr. Y?"

"Yes?"

"Could you sing me to sleep?"

His serious expression changed the instant I asked him to do so. He seemed nervous, but why? Perhaps he didn't want to sing to me at all…

"What…..what would you like me to sing?"

That was a good question…. What did I want him to sing me? I missed my mother ever so, and would have done anything to hear her sing once more…. Most nights my mother would sing me to sleep, singing sweet lullabies of hope, and a life away from my abusive drunken father. But I was away from all of that now…there was no need to sing about hope and safety…..for I was safe in the arms of this stranger. I knew he would never ever hurt me…I knew he would never ever get drunk. And to tell you the truth, wasn't even sure Mr. Y drank…..So what to sing? I wasn't sure.

"I don't know." I confessed. "Anything…."

"Anything?"

"Yes….sing something that you used to sing to mother…."

I could sense pain in my father's eyes. I never knew how he and my mother met, or how their relationship was, but I knew for sure that he sang to her…..I knew in Mr. Y's eyes that he had sang, and not just one song either…..

"Um….nothing I sang to your mother seems anywhere appropriate to sing to a young child…."

"Why?" I asked.

"Because they were songs about love, and…..other things."

"But it's what I want to hear…"

Mr. Y thought for a few moments, before pulling up a chair and taking a seat at my bedside.

"Ok….I shall do as you ask….."

And just like that, he began singing….his voice soft and beautiful.

"_No more talk of darkness _

_Forget these wide eyed fears_

_I'm here, nothing can harm you_

_My words will warm and calm you…._

_Let me be your freedom _

_Let daylight dry your tears_

_I'm here with you beside you_

_To guard you and to guide you…."_

I stopped Mr. Y….. I recognized the song. My mother used to sing me to sleep with it ever so often….. My mother once told me about Raoul singing this to her on the opera house rooftop when she was younger….but how? How did Mr. Y know this song? And how is it that he sang it to mother, when I knew for a fact that Raoul did….

"Mr. Y, my mother…she said Raoul sang this to her…."

He lowered his head.

"And so did I…."

"Why did you ever let her go if you loved her?"

"I wanted to keep her all to myself, but I knew she loved Raoul….."

"No she didn't….I mean, maybe she did, once…but all my life she did nothing but cry because of what he did. If you're in love with someone, you shouldn't have to cry…"

"Perhaps you're right…..but now it's too late, she's gone forever…."

"Forever is a long time…."

Mr. Y stood up from his seat, and pulled the blankets closer to my neck.

"Indeed it is….it's an eternity…."

"Promise me you'll stay….."

"Yes, I promise…now go to sleep…."

I did as my father told me, and closed my eyes. I wished ever so hard to be back in Coney Island with the freaks and my mother. I could have gotten used to living there…. But now I was headed back to Paris for reasons unknown. As I slept, I wished over and over again that this…this whole nightmare would just disappear and when I awoke, my mother would be standing over my bed…but when I awoke, I was looking at Mr. Y…He was sitting over at the desk, with his mask and wig placed to the side. His exposed skull was hideous, and the part of his face that I could see was still twisted and malformed….. He sat there writing, with a lit candle for light. It was probably morning, but I wasn't sure, our room didn't have any windows to look out upon.

"What time is it?" I finally asked after watching him for a few moments.

When my father realized that I was awake, he mumbled an apology and began to fumble around to put his mask back on…..

"Wait…" I called. "You don't have to…."

"Why shouldn't I?" he questioned.

"Because I know what you look like…"

"Does my appearance not bother you?"

I shook my head. It wasn't a pretty site, but my mother would have wanted me to accept him….as did she.

Mr. Y turned around, to face his desk once more, and placed the mask back down.

"You shan't have to worry about seeing me without it….for once we settle in our new home, I'll have my own room. For now, I shall have to settle with being able to sit in front of you unmasked. Unfortunately my face needs to breathe every once in a while or else it bleeds from constantly being covered."

This angered me…..he was so fixed on finding somewhere to live, somewhere to hide himself from me…. He didn't want to be around me…he was only putting up with me until we would arrive someplace else…..

"Is that all you care about!" I screamed. "Hiding yourself from me! Do I not mean a thing to you! I guess not, why would I?"

"Gustave, what are you talking about?"

"This is all going to be over! We're not going to be father and son once we arrive in Pairs…..all you want to do is find somewhere to hide yourself from me!"

"Gustave…that's not true…."

I ran from him….I ran out in the hall, up the stairs passed all the low class passengers all the way to the top deck…..a top deck that was flooded by a horrible rain storm that was happening before my very own eyes….The ship was rocking in an uneven pattern causing me to fall right off my feet, and begin slipping to the edge of the railing…I tried to stand up, I tried to make my way back to the door to get back to safety, but it was no use. My body slipped right to the railing, and my feet were now dangling over the edge of the ship…..I was holding on for dear life, but the water made everything too slippery…..My heart began to race, as I feared for what was to come…I heard my father's voice calling me from a far distance, but the rushing water and rain pounding against the ship made my calls mute…..Over and over again he called for me, but I couldn't get his attention…. And then suddenly, he saw me….. He came running over to me as the rain swept against his will to reach me before I lost my grip on the railing. His wet bony hand reached out to mine, but as I reached out my small hand to his, another wave emerged onto the deck, and swept me away with it…..

I was swept under the tide of the ocean, not knowing how to swim….it was the reason I came to Coney Island…it was my goal to learn how to do it, but I never reached that goal…..I kicked my arms over and over again to try and reach the surface of the water, but I couldn't…..I was nothing against the violent current of the ocean…. And to make matters worse, I hit my leg on the sharp side of the ship on my way down…I couldn't breathe, and I was sucking in nothing but salt water….But in a moment as if mother had sent me an angel, I was grabbed by an arm, and pulled to the surface…..I gasped for air, as the waves continued to hit me…..but I was safe…the arm never let go of me, and began making its way to the closest shore line. I could no longer see the ship's lights or any kind of light at all….I coughed over and over again as the person carrying me along made sure that my head stayed above water level. I wasn't sure what was going to happen to me now, but I was safe and that's all that mattered…..I was freezing and my leg was in pain….I wished that I never ran away, I wished that I could change the past and have stayed within my room, but I couldn't change the past…now was now, but at least I was safe….my mother had sent me a guardian angel…..and for that I was grateful.

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**Ok more to come soon, please let me know what you think! Thanks!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey everyone, thanks again for the reviews….enjoy!**

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**Gustave's POV**

My father was the one who had drug me to safety. We had only been a few yards away from the shore in the first place, and we were lucky...We probably would have drowned if we were any further away from land…..Once on shore, he placed me down into the sand, and lifted up my pant leg to tend to my leg.

"Mr. Y…." I cried…. "Please….don't…"

"Shut up boy!" he growled. "You hurt yourself!"

My father tore a piece of his cloak, and wrapped it tightly around my bleeding leg. Afterwards, he took the soaking wet cloak, and threw it over my shoulders to keep me warm…..not that the soaking cloak was going to do me any good while wet. I sat there shivering as I watched him build a fire. When the flames were high enough to warm me, he scooted behind me, and wrapped his body around mine to keep me warm.

"We'll use each other's body heat….." he told me. "It will keep us from freezing…"

"Why did you jump in after me?" I asked, my body shivering.

"Because you're my son…..and I know you can't swim."

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have run away from you….."

"You can't change the past…..it's alright…"

"What are we going to do now?" I asked.

"We're not far from Paris….we'll walk…."

I stayed awake for most of the night, sitting there using my father's body for support. He never left my side for one second, and kept his arms moving about me to keep the warmth within me. When the sun finally came up, my father helped me to my feet, and we began our walk. I followed behind him, as we made our way into town….we were only about five miles away, but walking those five miles made me extremely tired…. I was sandy and my clothes stunk of salt water. All I wanted now was a hot shower and some clean clothes, not to mention a warm bed….. It took us all day to make it to Paris and by the time we arrived, it was dark and the streets were only lit by street lamps.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"Home…" was his only reply.

I had expected him to lead me to an inn or even a house, but instead, he led me to the opera house. It was a beautiful building that was lit by candle light. It must have been an off night, because there wasn't a single person around. My father led me to a side window, where he kicked it in, causing it to open just enough to slip through.

"Well then, come along…" he said, motioning me to climb through the open space.

"What are we doing?" I asked. "We could get in trouble for this…"

"Nonsense, this is my home."

"The opera house is your home?"

"Of course…."

Something didn't feel right, but I did as my father told me and crawled inside the window. When I was inside the opera house, I noticed that I was standing in some sort of chapel…. There was a mantle in the center full of pictures with a candle sitting on top of each one…some were lit and other's weren't…

I ran my fingers over it, and looked at each picture…..

"What is this place?" I asked myself out loud.

I hadn't expected to be answered, but Mr. Y did…

"The Opera chapel….the pictures are of loved ones who passed, and the ones who loved them come down here to light a candle and pray."

My father came up behind me, and pointed to a picture of a young man…

"This is your grandfather. Gustave Daae…"

I never knew who I had been named after, but now I did. He looked like me in a way, but a much older me…. I ran my fingers over his picture, and smiled.

"Could we light his candle?" I asked. "And could we make one for mother?"

From out of my father's pocket, he took a picture of my mother and placed it beside the one of my grandfather. He then took my grandfather's candle and placed it over another lit one and lit it before placing it back in its spot.

"Your mother came down here when she was your age…. I found her down here praying to her father. I spoke to her, and we were connected right then and there…"

"Could I come here?" I asked. "To pray?"

"Perhaps, but you cannot be seen." he instructed. "It might be dangerous…"

"Why?" I asked.

"Because I am not welcome here….and if you are discovered, it might not be good for you….they would assume you an orphan. I shall teach you to be a ghost and move around the opera house without being seen…."

It was then that I heard footsteps approaching…..and the laugh of a young girl. My father grabbed me, and pulled me through a trap door in the wall….

"We must go…." he said. "We cannot be seen."

The area was too dark….I couldn't see a thing, but my father on the other hand seemed to know his way around. He quickly went over to the stone wall where a lantern was hanging, and took it from off the nail the handle was hanging from.

"Let's hope this still works…." he said, as he twisted a small knob on the front of it…and just like magic, it lit.

I followed him, and wound up walking down a stone staircase, as the light shun over each step for the slightest of seconds before disappearing. When we stepped off the last step, he warned me to be careful….There was a gondola docked up beside the last step, and I wondered what was to happen next. He picked me up, and placed me down inside it…..

"Now hold on…."

My father stepped inside as well, and began to push a large dark stick in and out of the water to direct us through the cold catacombs…the water was murky, and our only light was from the lantern.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"To my house by the lake…."

I wasn't sure how long my father steered us through the water, but I knew where ever we were headed, it was far away from any living soul….He docked the gondola near a small door way, and helped me out once again. Mr. Y then opened the door, and lead me inside the darkened home.

"Don't move…" he instructed. "I'll get the lights…"

My father approached a small dragon shaped lever on the wall near the doorway, and pulled it down with all his might….there was a spark, and then the lights flew on. They flickered for the slightest of moments, before staying on…It was apparent that it had been a long time since the last time he was here. When I got my first look at the surroundings of Mr. Y's house, it looked like a hell hole. There was broken furniture scattered all around, and holes were punched through the walls…this was no home.

"I'm sorry about the mess…" he said, already attempting to clean up the broken glass that was scattered about. "In the past, people didn't like me much…..they came down here and ruined my home. But within time, it shall be as beautiful as it once was…."

I took a few steps more into the home, and glanced down on the floor to see a large piece of paper covered in dust. I bent down to pick it up, only to see that it was a beautiful drawing of my mother…..

"Did you draw this?" I asked, showing Mr. Y the picture.

He nodded.

"Yes, I always drew your mother while she was here with me…."

"Mother came down here?"

"Yes, she used to come down here to spend time with me…she would read books from my library and sit by the fire while I composed songs for her…..They were the happiest days of my life…"

I walked into the adjoining room to notice that it had once been the library….there were shelves covering each wall with only a few books left on them, with a huge pile up of open books scattered around each corner of the room…..

"Like I said, soon, this shall be a beautiful home once more….there is much work that needs to be done…"

He placed his cold hand on my shoulder, and directed me out into a hallway.

"Now then, some rules."

"Rules?"

"Yes, boy, rules…..You are welcome to enter any room inside my house, except my music room which is here…." My father tapped on a closed door to the right. "And my bedchamber…." And then he tapped on a closed door to the left.

"Where will I be sleeping?"

He pulled me to the end of the hall, and opened a room that hadn't been damaged at all. It had a bed, and walls that were painted white…..

"This is your room….it was your mother's and now it is yours…"

"My mother slept here?" I asked.

"Yes, most nights she would get nightmares and so I would come get her and bring her here….she seemed to sleep easier in this bed."

"What about my belongings? What about my things?"

"What things?" he asked.

"My things that I used to own when I lived with Raoul…."

"We'll worry about that later….It's late…I think you should get a bath and go to sleep…."

"Where's the bathroom?"

My father pointed to a door that was beside my bed, and I opened it to find a rusty tub.

"I'll prepare the water for you…."

I stood there in my sandy clothes, watching him heat up some water, and fill the tub to the brim with it. Afterwards, he handed me a towel and proceeded to leave when I stopped him. I didn't want to be left alone….my mother always stayed with me when I got a bath….It was strange knowing that she was gone, but it was even stranger wanting Mr. Y to stay with me while I bathed.

"Stay with me….I…I don't want to be left alone…"

"Very well then…"

He stood there in the center of the bathroom, watching me undress. When I would remove each garment of clothing, I would hand it to him….afterwards, I removed the piece of cloak from off my hurt leg, and crawled into the warm waters of the tub….The water made me feel ten times better, and I wanted nothing more than to get dressed in some warm pajamas and sleep…. After washing my hair, I rinsed a wash cloth out and began wiping away the dirt and sand that was lodged in all places around my frail body.

"Let me have a look at your leg…"

I looked over and saw my father approaching the tub. I rested my hurt leg on top of the tub, and watched as he examined it ever so closely before asking me for the wash cloth. When I did, he began to scrape out the dirt using the end of the cloth…it hurt like hell, and I moaned as he did so….

"That hurts!" I cried.

"You need to wash this out…" he scowled. "It will get infected!"

"Are you done yet!"

"Enough!…let me do my work."

After a whole painful five minutes of feeling him digging into my open wound, he finished, and lifted me out of the tub. I wasn't even out three seconds when my father wrapped a towel around my body and began rubbing it against my skin to dry me off…..

"That's very peculiar…" I heard him say, his fingers running over a brown birth mark that I had on my chest….

"What is?"

"We have the same birth mark…."

"No you don't…"

"Yes I do…"

To prove that he wasn't lying, he removed his black cravat and undid the first two buttons on his dirty shirt to reveal the same mark…..but surrounding that mark were lumpy scars…

"Where did you get those?"

"Get what?"

I tried to reach up and touch one of the scars, but he grabbed my hand….

"That's none of your concern…" he replied, buttoning his shirt back up. Afterwards, we walked back into my bedroom where one of Mr. Y's white shirts were laying out on the bed.

"This will have to do for now until we retrieve some of your clothing….."

He slipped the white shirt over my head, and once again it came down to my ankles….He then picked me up, and placed me in bed.

"Now go to sleep…."

"Could you tell me a story…..a story about mother?" I asked.

"Why would you want to hear a story about mother?"

"To keep her memory alive in my heart…..please, Mr. Y?"

I knew my father hated bringing up memories about my mother, but what was I to do? I didn't want to never talk about her….she had only been gone a few days and I missed her already….

"Ok then….what story do you want to hear?"

That was a good question, what story did I want to hear? There were probably so many that my father had to tell, but on this night, my mind was only curious to hear one, and only one.

"Tell me about the night you and mother created me…."

My father's breath caught into his throat, and his hand began to tremble….

"Um…I…I don't believe there is anything to tell….."

"My mother says otherwise…."

"What do you mean?" he asked. "She never spoke of me around you…"

He was right, my mother never did speak of Mr. Y, but once before, I had asked my mother to tell me the story about the night I was conceived…..She had told me that she and my father were deeply in love, and found each other in a dark place….it was so dark that they couldn't even see each other….She had told me that she and my father spent the entire night telling one another how much they loved and adored the fact that they were at last one….only a few days ago did I realize that my mother wasn't talking about Raoul, she was talking about Mr. Y…..

"She told me about it…" I said. "But I always thought she was referring to Raoul…."

Mr. Y sat down beside me, and pondered on where to start….

"Well….the opera house was on fire, and I was being chased by a mob….the same mob that damaged my home…"

"Why?"

"Because people hated the fact that I was the so called "Phantom of the Opera."

"Phantom of the what?"

"I'd rather not discuss such a subject….." he interrupted. "But anyway, I had loved your mother with all my heart but I never thought she loved me back….I freed her from my love, and let her go off with Raoul….I found myself at an inn across town to wait it out….to be free from the mob. Your mother came to me the night before she was to wed Raoul…..She just wanted to talk to me….she apologized for every ounce of pain she ever caused me….and then….and then…..she…touched me…"

My father stopped his story, and placed his hand on his neck, most likely the exact spot where my mother had touched him. I began to see moister escaping from the eye hole of his mask, making it obvious that he was crying…..

"She…She touched me…she touched me…."

He was now sobbing into his hands, breathing heavily and groaning out all the agony that my mother's death had caused him. He then shot up to his feet, and made his way to the door, leaving me alone…and never coming back. I lay there for hours afterwards, pressing my pillow close to me and silently sobbing…..my mother's memories of her tucking me in played in my mind like a story book with pictures…I hated being alone in this room…I didn't want to be alone. When I could no longer take the agony of being alone any longer, I wiped my tear soaked eyes and walked out into the darkened hallway. I knew my father told me never to enter his bedchamber, but I couldn't bear to be alone any longer. I reached out my hand, and turned the golden knob with my hands until the door quietly came open. Inside was dark, with the exception of a candle burning on a makeshift desk that was on the other side of the room. I could hear sobbing coming from the bed, as I crept silently to it. But as my foot hit a loose floorboard, I heard a creak and it caused my father to stir within the sheets, and turn on a gas lamp that was placed on his night table…..When the dim light lit the area of his bed, I noticed him sitting there with a hand covering the right side of his face. He had covers placed over him from his feet up to his lap, and he was wearing a dark night shirt….and for his wig, there was no wig….he was back to being blonde and bald with that piece of his exposed skull showing…..

"What are you doing in here!" he growled. "I thought I told you to stay out of this room!…"

"I….I want my mother…." I cried. "I want her….I want her to tuck me in…I want her to kiss me goodnight…I..I miss her…."

From how red my father's eyes were, I knew that he too had been crying. I knew he missed her just as much as I did…maybe even more.

"Don't you think I miss her too?" he growled. "You're not the only one! But there is nothing I can do to bring her back! There isn't a god damn thing I can do! If I could replace myself with her I would….If I could have taken that bullet for her, I would have!"

"Don't say that…" I cried. "Don't ever say that…"

"And why not? I always wished for death….and yet I'm still here and your mother who loved life is now dead!"

"Because I would miss you…."

I wasn't sure what had made me say such a thing. I hardly knew Mr. Y…..he was my father, yet I hardly knew him….and I didn't want him dead…. Mr. Y looked at me as if I were Christine…..he looked at me as if I were her, here and back from the dead. He didn't smile, but his anger slipped away….

"What do you want me to do?" he asked kindly…. "What would you want me to do?"

"I'm lonely….could I sleep with you?"

He seemed taken by surprise by my question, and removed his hand that was covering his deformity…..I looked at him for several seconds as the lamp light shun onto it, glowing up every vein and twisted piece of flesh on his face….

"Do you still want to sleep with me now?" he asked, awaiting my answer, thinking that I was still going to decline and run away.

"Yes…"

His eyes widened, and he didn't move for several seconds, making sure that I wasn't joking around with him…..but I wasn't…When those few seconds were up, he scooted closer to the edge of the bed, and patted the empty space beside him. I cautiously crawled in beside him, and laid down on the extra pillow that smelled like his expensive French cologne. We laid there face to face in the dark, and when I looked into the deformity, I no longer feared him….He was all I had, and he was my father….As I lay there, I traced my fingers along the deformed flesh, causing him to gasp in surprise…I felt comfortable around him, and soon, my entire body was snuggled against his…..His arms moved above me, as if he didn't know what to do…..and then his arms wrapped around me, and brought me close to him….he was hugging me, and I was happy….so happy that I began to sob….and soon we were sobbing together…

"I…I never thought I would ever have a child…" he cried. "But you….you're more than I could ever ask for…..you're like your mother in everyway…..you are her…..And I know you might not be able to call me father now or ever…..but call me by my real name….not by Mr. Y…..call me Erik…."

"Ok…."

We sobbed until we eventually fell asleep…..we had shared something together as father and son…We had sobbed together over my mother…Perhaps my mother was right…perhaps all Erik needed was love…..and in return he would give love….and for my mother, I would make sure I would give him all the love that he deserved…..

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**Ok, please, please, please review! Thanks again everyone! **


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey everyone, thanks again for the reviews! Enjoy the chapter!**

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**Gustave's POV**

I had expected to wake within my father's embrace, but woke to find my body stretched out within his bed, the covers tangled around me, and my father's spot cold and empty. What made things even scarier was when I walked out of my father's bedroom to find the lair empty….. I had thought he had left me, and it scared me…..Once again, my father was no where to be found, and I could no longer hold back the tears that wanted to come…. I stood there crying, wondering where he was, but then the door behind me opened, and in walked my father. He was carrying a few bags, and had his cloak wrapped around him. When he saw that I was crying, he rushed over to me, and scooped me up into his arms to calm me….

"Oh dear boy, please don't cry….it's ok…I'm back. I had business to finish with your mother's funeral."

I immediately stopped crying, and the sadness left my heart.

He placed me back down, and led me into the kitchen before turning over a chair for me to sit on.

"I've got breakfast….fresh pastries from the bakery."

He placed a glazed doughnut down in front of me, and watched as I indulged myself into it.

"Aren't you hungry?" I asked.

"I…I already ate."

I didn't bother questioning him any further, and afterwards, my father handed me a pair of black trousers and a white shirt like the one he was wearing.

"I got these for you today. They will have to do until we find out how to get the rest of your clothes…..they fit? Yes?"

I nodded, and placed the clothes on…..a perfect fit.

"So, would you want to help me clean up the lair?" he asked.

"Sure, Erik…."

My father led me into the library, and pointed to the pile of books.

"You can start by placing those books back on the shelf. I'm going to fix the furniture that's broken…Afterwards we'll take a stroll to the opera house and gather some new curtains and linens from the prop department…."

As I picked up every book and dusted it off, I couldn't help but peek out of the room and watch my father work away on the broken furniture, nailing back in the legs of a chair and the seat on his piano bench. He was brilliant, and even if I couldn't yet call him father, I was happy to be staying with him.

"So when is mother's funeral?" I asked after a while, finding the complete silence annoying.

"Tomorrow. She is going to be buried beside your grandfather's tomb."

"And we are going?"

"Yes, of course…."

"And could we visit her every day?"

"Yes, if that is what you want…."

The room fell silent once again, and a few minutes later, I began to hear my father humming a sad tune….I worked quietly so I could hear it clearly, and after a few moments, I noticed the tune right off hand. My mother used to sing it to me every night just before bed….and I knew the lyrics… When he began humming the next verse, I sang along.

"_Turn your face away from the garish light of day_

_Turn your thoughts away from cold unfeeling light_

_And listen to the music of the night…."_

My father stopped humming, and stuck his head inside the doorway of the library I was working in…..he seemed confused yet curious as to how I knew the song…

"How do you know it?" he asked curiously.

I picked up a green book that was laying on the floor, and placed it back onto the shelf…

"Mother used to sing it to me every night…"

"Did she now?"

"Yes, she said it was one of the most beautiful songs she had ever heard. It helped me sleep through my nightmares."

"What sort of nightmares?"

"Ones where I am drowning…."

My father stood up to his feet, and picked up the last book that was laying on the floor before placing it on a shelf much too high for me to reach.

"Come, we should go to the prop room while it's deserted."

"The what?" I asked.

"You shall see, now come along, and be quiet."

I followed my father to the doorway of his home where the gondola was docked. Once again he helped me inside it and began steering us towards shore. After a while, I turned around and watched as he glided the pole in and out of the water ever so gracefully…..it looked easy, and I wanted to try.

"Could I do it?" I asked.

"No…" he replied, not even giving me one glance.

"Why not? Please? I swear I'll be good at it…."

I knew my father only wanted to see me happy, and so he forced himself to agree, and stood aside.

"Come here…" he said.

I stood beside him, and he placed the long dark pole in my fingers.

"Now move up and down slowly…." he said, gliding my hands to move the pole in and out of the water. He continued to do this until I got the hang of it…which didn't take long.

"Now steer the gondola to the right…." he instructed…

I did, but as I did so, I moved the pole into the water too fast, causing me to stumble backwards, and bump into my father who was standing closer to the edge, causing him to fall into the deep water.

"Erik!" I yelled for him as I looked over the edge and noticed him struggling in the water….it looked as if his cloak was caught onto something….But being the smart man that he was, he untied his cloak from around him, and pushed himself to the surface…..He crawled back into the gondola soaking wet, and coughing tremendously from all the water he had probably inhaled. He angrily snatched the pole out of my hands, and scowled at me for what I had done.

"Slowly!" he shouted. "I told you slowly! You cost me my favorite cloak!"

"What happened to it?" I asked in a frightened tone.

"It got caught on one of my traps, and I would have drowned if it were any other part of me!"

I was going to apologize, but we had landed on shore, and my father was too busy tying the gondola to care….

"Come, we must be quick…I need to get back to the lair and change out of these wet clothes before I freeze to death."

He wrung out his shirt the best he could, before having me follow him up the stair case. This time however, he took me through a door, and we ended up within the rafters, looking down at a room full of bins and bins of props and strange objects.

He placed a finger to his lip to motion me to be quiet, and slipped down like a monkey going from rafter to rafter to get himself down to the main floor.

"Come on…" he said, his voice barely a whisper.

I was afraid to jump, but did as I was told, only when I jumped, I wound up falling into a bin full of soft fabric causing a loud bang to occur.

"Damn you boy!" he growled. "What are you trying to do? Get us spotted?"

"I'm sorry…" I said, laying within the bin.

My father pulled me out, and began rummaging through the bin I had landed in. He pulled out a long multi colored curtain, and wrapped it up within his arm.

"This will do nicely…."

"Won't the opera house be looking for it?" I asked.

"No, they make new ones everyday. They won't even know it's gone….."

After picking out a few more pieces of fabric, he placed them into my arms, and jumped back up in the rafters, pulling me up with him.

"Come, we mustn't be seen."

Mother had always told me that stealing was wrong, and when I brought it up to my father, he told me that we weren't stealing, but borrowing. If we were borrowing, then I guess it was ok….. It seemed as though the cold had gotten the best of my father, for when we reached the lair once more, he left me with a chore so he could go change…only after changing, he didn't return. After finishing up cleaning like my father had asked, I walked to his bedroom door and knocked. I could have just walked in, but I didn't want to anger him…..

"Come in…" his voice sounded muffled and sick, and I did as he asked, closing the door behind me.

He was laying in bed, dressed in a pair of his pajamas. His mask was off, and so was his wig, and he was shivering tremendously…..

"Are you ok?" I asked.

"Yes…" he assured. "Fine….I just need to rest before I get sick…."

"You're shivering…"

"Yes, well I need to stay warm or else I'll wind up with the flue…."

"How come?"

"I have a very weak immune system."

I crawled into bed with him, and snuggled into his arm.

"I'm sorry…." I began. "I didn't mean for you to fall into the water."

"It's ok….it was an accident."

"Could I sleep with you again tonight?"

My father looked down at me, and shook his head.

"It's best if you slept in your own bed tonight….."

"I hate that room…"

"Gustave, please, I'm in no condition to want to argue with you…You're going to have to get used to sleeping in your own bed…."

"Please, Erik…..I don't want to be alone."

His hand rested on my shoulder, and he gave out a tired sigh.

"Alright, but only for a few more nights."

And so, that night I fell asleep beside my father once again…..Only I woke to a horrible dream. I was at the funeral with my father, and all of a sudden, Raoul shot him…..It scared me, and I awoke with a start. I wanted to wake my father, but he was ill and needed all the rest he could get. Instead I decided to get up and let him rest. It had been a while since I went to the chapel to pray, and so that's exactly what I did. I quietly snuck out of the lair, and jumped into the gondola….god only know I would have been dead if my father awoke and found out what I was doing. I glided it across the murky water slowly as not to become in any kind of trouble. It was fun, and for once I began to actually start liking the fact that I lived inside an opera house. When I was on shore, I docked the gondola, and grabbed the lantern from the front of it to light my way through the catacombs. I found the trap door we had come through the other day, and found myself in the chapel.

I was glad to see that it was empty, and I kneeled down in front of my mother and grandfather's picture and lit their candle.

"I had a terrible dream tonight, mother…." I told the picture. "A horrible one where father died. If you can hear me, please don't take father away from me…. You're gone, and without him, I'll be alone…Please send him an angel….."

I bowed my head, and tried not to cry. I missed my mother dearly, and wanted nothing more than for her to be here beside me…..but suddenly, I heard the door open, and footsteps coming closer. I had expected them to my father's but they weren't…..because within seconds, I heard the voice of a little girl..

"Hey, what are you doing in here?"

I turned around, and saw a beautiful girl around my age with long black hair, and blue eyes. She was dressed in a white nightgown, and was carrying a small lit candle…

"Might I ask you the same question….."

"I came to pray….and you shouldn't be here…"

"Oh really? And why not? I'm here for the same reason you are…."

"Boys don't live in the opera house…."

"Well I do….."

I knew if father could see me now, he would probably beat me for showing myself to another human, and ground me forever more….

"Really? And who are you praying for?"

"My mother and grandfather….you?"

The girl knelt beside me, and lit a candle that was placed beside my mother's picture. It was a picture of a man with dark hair and a beard….possibly a gypsy?

"My father…..Baba…"

"That picture wasn't there before…" I said.

"That's because I just arrived here. My father and mother were gypsies….we were traveling here when our caravan was attacked by a bunch of Frenchmen. He didn't make it…..My mother and I managed to get here safely and she was given a job in the wardrobe department."

"I'm sorry…." I said.

"How about you?" she asked.

"My mother was a singer…..she came to Coney Island and was murdered."

"Coney Island? I always wanted to go there….how was it?"

"Unlike anything you've ever seen before….they have everything you could ever dream of and my father built it all…."

"Really? Who's your father?"

I couldn't reveal my father's identity incase anyone would recognize him….and so I lied.

"He….he died. He was trying to save my mother…"

"So you're an orphan?"

"Sort of…"

"And living in the opera house?"

"Yes….just please don't tell anyone…."

"I won't…."

"Cross your heart…" I said.

The girl did as I asked, and moved her fingers over her heart.

"So what is your name?" she asked.

"Gustave….you?"

"Reneasia….."

"That's a pretty name…."

I had to stop myself from telling this girl anything more…..I quickly stood to my feet, and bid her goodbye….

"I must be going….."

"When will I see you again?" she asked.

"I don't know….soon?

And with that, I rushed back down to jump into the gondola. This had been the first time in a while since I had contact with another child, and I liked it….I couldn't tell my father, for he would only become angry….no, this would be my little secret. He didn't have to know that I met a girl named Reneasia….no…this would be my little secret. And so I made it back to the lair, and crawled back into bed with my father as if I had never left at all, dreading the funeral that was to come…

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**Sorry about the short chapter…..I promise the next one will be longer. Anyway let me know what you think. Thanks!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey everyone, thanks again for the reviews….**

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**Gustave's POV**

The following morning, I awoke still in my father's arms. I stretched, and my father did the same. He ran his fingers through his hair, and sat up.

"How do you feel, Erik?" I asked.

"Better….." he said, grabbing his pocket watch from off the nightstand.

"Come along, we must get ready for the funeral."

My father placed his feet over the side of the bed, and walked his way over to his wardrobe closet. I laid there and watched him change out of his pajamas and into his suit. When he took off his shirt, I noticed that his body was full of horrible scars. I gasped, and he seemed to notice that I was looking at him.

"How about some privacy!" he growled.

I shielded my eyes with my hand, and didn't dare remove it until I was told to do so. Afterwards, he handed me a suit that was my size, and left me to change. I didn't want to make him angry, and so I did as he asked and changed into the black suit that he had left me. Afterward I came out of the room to see my father standing there waiting for me.

"Well, are you ready?" he asked, adjusting his mask.

"Yes, Erik…."

"Come along then, we mustn't be late."

My father grabbed a single red rose from off his desk, before stepping out with me. I didn't ask to steer the gondola today, for I knew what his answer was going to be. Together we walked to the graveyard, a graveyard that was surrounded by creepy looking statues and stone angels. I didn't ask my father any questions at all about the whereabouts of my mother's grave, I just followed silently. At the end of the graveyard, there was a magnificent tomb, with the word "Daae" inscribed into the top of it. I stood there looking up at it, and wondered if this was where my mother was going to be buried.

"Is this mother's grave?" I asked.

"No, It's your grandfather's….."

I had lived in Paris all my life, but never had I ever seen my grandfather's grave. It was my mother's daily ritual to come here, but never had she ever invited me. This was the first time I had ever seen it.

"Where's mother's grave?" I asked….

And then I turned around to see her coffin sitting upon an open grave that was only a few feet away. There were flowers surrounding her casket, beautiful red roses; my mother's favorite. I couldn't help but tear up at the very mere sight of it…..I hoped this to be a nightmare, but I knew it wasn't. I knew that my mother was being buried today, and there was nothing I could do about it. What made things even worse, was when my father approached her coffin, and began to sob…. I knew he loved my mother very much, and knowing that she was inside the coffin was killing him. He gracefully placed the rose down on the lid, and sobbed a few last words, before just standing there…and doing nothing more…..

I had thought this funeral to be private with just the two of us, but from a distance, I heard a carriage approaching, but not just any carriage, Raoul's carriage! The familiar black coach with his red and green family crest painted on the side door came prancing into the graveyard, and right up to my mother's grave. My father tried to pull me back, but I was afraid of what was to happen now. When the door of the coach opened, Raoul stepped out dressed in his best suit….. What made things even stranger was the fact that he was sober…. He didn't say a word to either of us as he slowly approached the coffin….I could sense that he too seemed surprised by my mother's death. His clean manicured hands ran over the lid of my mother's coffin, his eyes had just as much tears in them as my father had…..and then….and then he turned and faced my father with an angry expression.

"Who? Who killed my wife? Was it you?"

Raoul was ready to pounce on my father, but I quickly stepped in to defend him.

"Wait! No…..Erik didn't do it. She was shot by Meg Giry…"

His eyes darted back up to my father's in anger.

"Meg? That little Coney Island whore? She shot Christine?"

Erik nodded, and pulled me aside.

"She tried to drown my son…." he replied. "And then when Christine and I…"

My father couldn't even finish his sentence because he was already breaking down in tears again.

"I shouldn't have left her!" growled Raoul. "I should have stayed! I could have protected her! You let her get shot!"

"I tried to jump in the way!" my father yelled. "Don't you think if I could turn back time and take that bullet for her I would! I would have died for her…"

"Erik stop this!" I cried. "Don't say such a thing…."

"It's true! If I could switch places with Christine I would!"

The graveyard fell silent, and Raoul stood there, thinking about what to do next. Finally, he turned to me, and began a conversation that made my father on edge…

"Gustave, I haven't drank a single drop in over a week….. I would really like it if you came and stayed with me."

I glanced at my father who's world seemed to have fallen to pieces. I knew his heart was breaking in two before my very own eyes. Did I want to stay with Raoul? The man who had beat me and my mother every day since the day I was born? I had prayed everyday to be set free from his abuse, and now I have…..and I wasn't about to go running back now.

"Thank you, Raoul…." I said, calling him by his first name for the first time ever. "But I like staying with my father…he needs me."

"Very well then, is there anything else I can do for you?"

"Yes, actually there is. I want to come home and gather some of my things."

Raoul's eyes darted back to my father's, before looking back to me and agreeing.

"Fine. Come along and get your things. You can ride with me in my carriage."

For some reason, it either being something from his past or just the fact that he knew Raoul all too well, he disagreed to Raoul's request.

"We'll walk, thank you."

"Why? It's a far walk from here to the estate. Come, please I insist that you come along and ride with me…."

It took several moments for my father to agree. My father didn't want to leave the graveyard, but what more could he do for my mother? I stepped inside the coach after Raoul, and sat down in my familiar seat. My father didn't talk the entire ride to the estate, and neither did Raoul….It was as if they were sworn enemies…. The coach pulled through the old iron gates of the estate, and parked beside the front door…..Already I could see the maids and even the cook Mary….. I stepped out with my father, and followed Raoul through the front doors. Once inside, he turned to me, and motioned up the steps.

"Go on then, Gustave. You know where your room is. Gather what ever you like…."

"Come on, Erik, I'll show you my room."

I tugged my father's hand to follow me, but Raoul placed a firm grip on his shoulder.

"Not him…..I'd like to have a few words with your father…."

I didn't want to leave him, but Erik insisted that he'd be alright. I ran up the staircase, and into my old room. The first thing I did was plop down on my mattress, causing all the stuffed animals to come tumbling on me…. I laughed as they did so, and hurried to my closet to take out a bag. From there I placed a few of my shirts and pajamas into it, along with two of my favorite stuffed animals and a few board games. I used to own a lot full of instruments, but ever since my father gave away our fortune, he had taken every last one to the pawn shop. When I had everything I wanted, I crept out into the hall, and stepped into my parent's room….a place strictly forbidden to enter. I wasn't going to leave this place forever, without snagging something that belonged to my mother.

My parent's room looked just how I remembered it being. My mother's jewelry box was still sitting on her vanity, along with her combs and a few hair pieces. I opened my bag, and tossed in my mother's favorite hair piece that was shaped like a butterfly, along with a necklace she had always enjoyed wearing. And then I found it, the thing I had come in here for! It was a black journal that my mother always wrote in…..she had forbid me to ever look into it, and now I was going to have my chance. I placed it into my bag, and ran out of the room before I was spotted. When I reached the stairs, I heard Raoul yelling, and snuck down to see what was going on…..

From the foyer, I could spot Raoul standing over by the fireplace, with my father in his grasp….he was violently grabbing onto Erik's shirt…but why?

"You have a lot of nerve coming here!" he shouted. "Especially after what you did to my wife…."

Erik tried to pull away, but Raoul wouldn't let him.

"You've grown soft, Phantom….." he growled. "What is it? Am I too good for you to lasso to death now? Is the thought of loosing Gustave threatening to you?"

"You're the monster, not me…."

"Ah, but you're wrong. I should kill you right now for making love to my wife! How dare you even fill her with your hideous seed!"

"If my seed is so hideous then why is it that for ten years you believed Gustave to be yours?"

This made Raoul angry. He lunged at my father, and tore the mask right off his face!

"How could she? How could my wife ever want to make love to…to that!"

My father grabbed his mask back, and placed it back on his face.

"Because she could see the beauty within me…."

"I wouldn't put past the thought of you raping her for one moment…."

"She came to me Boy! She came to where I was hiding, and she touched me first!"

I came down the stairs, and stood in the door way to stop this…. I know knew why my father hated Raoul ever so…. I knew he hated him just as much as I did.

"Can we go?" I asked.

"If you are ready….."

My father tried to walk over to me, but Raoul pulled him back.

"Be warned that this is far from over, Phantom! And by the time this is over you're going to be in the grave next!"

This scared me, but my father didn't say a thing back to him…..I knew he didn't want to make threats, especially when I was in his care. My mother had begged him to take care of me, and I knew that's exactly what he planned on doing.

The thought of my mother being gone forever made me upset. What made me even more upset was returning to the lair only to have my father go to his room….alone. I knew the funeral had made him just as upset as it did me…but why? Why couldn't he show me his emotions? Why did he have to hide like some ghost? I hated my room that I had been given….what made things even worse was to know that it had once belonged to my mother. I unpacked my bag, and hung my clothes in the wardrobe closet before curling up in bed with one of my stuffed bears…..It was a stuffed bear that my mother had once given me after a brutal beating from Raoul. She said that it had helped her through many hard times, and thought that it could help me…I pressed its softness to my face, and inhaled the strong scent of my mother's perfume….This was the only thing keeping me calm at the moment. Then, with the bear in one arm, and my mother's journal in the other, I opened it….. The first page had a picture of the opera house attached inside of it, along with a date and my mother's writing beneath it.

"_January 5__th__ 1871_

_He let me go…. Have you ever been so close to something? So close to something, that it felt completely right? I had that moment tonight. My angel, Erik had appeared during the performance of Don Juan Triumphant…..and as Don Juan himself! Piange had been Don Juan just moments ago…. I could only wonder how Erik had gotten in his place…But oh, how wonderful it felt to be in his arms once again. He held me as we sang our duet…the beautiful duet that he had wrote in my honor. His voice was like soft velvet against my ears, and soon I was completely hypnotized by it…. But when the song came to an end, he pleaded for me to love him… There were policemen and officers who were here to take his head after the show, but I couldn't let that happen. Instead, I tore off his mask, and the whole audience gasped at his appearance…._

_But he grabbed me, and took me off stage as everyone including Raoul tried to come to my defense. Down once more we tumbled through the catacombs of the opera house, to the lair, his lair that I had come to know and love, the lair where his beautiful music and art had been created, a lair that he had been condemned to his entire life. Once there he forced me into a wedding gown, a beautiful wedding gown that he had designed all on his own for such an occasion. He placed a gorgeous ring on my finger and pleaded me to be his wife…he was on the floor, pulling at my skirts, begging me to do this one thing for him. I had always loved Erik with my entire heart, but this, this was all happening too fast. Before I could give my answer, Raoul had found his way down to the lair, and tried to save me. Erik was angry, and desperate…..and I knew he always acted out on it, when he was backed up in a corner like a helpless animal…..I knew he hated feeling helpless. He placed Raoul in a lasso, and begged me to make a choice. I was to either marry him, or watch Raoul die….. _

_I had made my choice. I always did love Erik, and there was no changing that. I kissed him! For the first time ever, I had kissed my angel of music. Our tongues twisted with one another's and I could feel hot tears burning down his face. I pulled away only for a second, before pulling him back in for another kiss. This time, I could feel his body trembling against mine….. This had been his first kiss… He had once told me that even his own mother never kissed him. I had been his first, and this kiss was the first of many to come….. When I broke away we both smiled at each other, before he broke off into hysterical sobs….. He turned the lasso holding Raoul loose, and I was about to tell him to leave us, but then Erik demanded that we leave together…..I tried to cut in, but Erik didn't want to listen….He forced me out of the lair…..He sobbed out that he loved me, and I wanted to tell him the same….only….Raoul, he was standing there waiting for me. And like a fool I left with him. Raoul had been my childhood friend…I would always love Raoul, but like a brother. I left my poor Erik all alone in that lair, knowing that the mob was getting closer. That night I lay there beside Raoul, thinking about all the horrible things that probably happened to Erik. It was the night before I was to be wed…..Raoul had wanted me marry him as quickly as possible…. But what was I doing? I was totally tormented by my choice…. I had to find Erik, and so that's exactly what I did… I got up, and slipped into the dark to find my angel of music hopefully alive…"_

My eyes couldn't believe what they were reading…. All this time, my mother had never loved Raoul to begin with, her true love had always been my father… I quickly flipped to the next page, to find a picture of my father….the only one I had ever seen, and below it was some more of my mother's hand writing…..without hesitation, I began to read…

"_I searched all through the city to find my any sight of my angel. There were only a few places I knew he would be hiding at…."_

I would have continued reading, but I heard a knock at my door…. Quickly I closed the book, and slipped it under my pillow. The last thing my father needed to know was that I had my mother's journal, and that she loved him more than anything in the world….It was too late, she was gone, and I knew this would only break his heart….He didn't need to know…

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**Ok everyone, please review! **


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey everyone, thanks again for the reviews…Please keep em up!**

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**Gustave's POV**

The moment I heard that knock on the door, I slipped my mother's journal under my pillow, and made sure it was hidden before answering my father.

"Come in…"

The door opened, and my father came walking in, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and his eyes tear soaked.

"Um….dinner is ready."

"Erik, are you ok?" I asked.

"Yes…" he replied. "Just fine."

I left the journal hidden beneath my pillow, as I followed my father out into the kitchen. Once there, I noticed a table set with two spots across from each other. I took a seat, and watched as my father poured me a glass of water before pouring himself a glass of red wine. When he turned his back, I slyly reached across the table, and tried to grab his glass to get a sip, when I heard his voice demand for me to drop it.

"Gustave. Don't even think about it."

I placed the glass down, and sat back in my seat.

"Why? I'm ten years old…."

My father set a plate of spaghetti down in front of me, and answered my question.

"I won't be letting you touch a single drop of wine until you're twelve."

"But it's only two years…..I'm not going to be any wiser."

"I beg to differ." he replied, sitting down in his spot, and removing his mask.

I looked up at his disfigurement, only to notice that I was making him nervous.

"Does my face bring you fear?" he asked.

"No." I said. "Never…."

I sat there eating, and twirling my fork around, thinking about what to say to him.

"I have a few of mother's things."

"Where did you get them?" he questioned, his eyes raised to mine.

"I….I stole them from my father's room."

"Gustave!" my father pounded his fist on the table in such anger.

"What? Those things are just as much mine as they are his. I only took a few things, I left all the good stuff with him to do as he pleases. If you want something, you can have one."

"Such as what? What would I need something like that for?" he growled.

"To remember her…." I said. "Just to have something that belonged to her….to say that it's yours."

"I have nor need nothing but memories."

"Why do you have to be so cold?" I questioned. "Don't you think that I miss her too?"

"But I miss her the most! All the nights I dreamed of having her beside me will never come! All the nights that could have been have faded! And yet, I'm left with nothing…..absolutely nothing…"

Tears formed into my eyes, as I realized what my father was saying. It was as if he hated the fact that I existed and that he'd rather have my mother here than me. Without another word, I stood up without excusing myself, and rushed to my room before slamming the door shut and crawling into my bed with my stuffed bear. As I lay there, I twirled my mother's butterfly hair piece within my fingers, and prayed that she would return, even though I knew she wasn't going to. Moments later, I heard a soft knocking on my door, and my father's voice asking me to let him in….

"Gustave, open up….."

"Go away…" I sobbed.

"Gustave, I didn't mean what I said….."

"Go away, Erik….."

It got silent for a few moments, and I could have sworn that he went away, but after those few moments I heard a violent banging at the door, and my father's voice screaming at the top of his lungs.

"Damn you, boy! Open this door or I swear you will be sorry!"

"Then come on in and make me curse the day I was ever born!" I shouted back…

"If your mother was here…."

"Well she isn't, is she? I know how much of an inconvenience it is to have to discipline me yourself…"

"I can discipline my own son!"

"Just go away! I hate you!"

I didn't mean to add the last few words into my sentence, but I did….I knew I must have hurt his feelings, for I no longer heard him standing outside my door. But what could I say? He had hurt my feelings as well. I didn't know what else to do, and so I pulled back out the journal, and began reading from where I stopped.

""_I searched all through the city to find my any sight of my angel. There were only a few places I knew he would be hiding at….The first place I checked was his lair at the opera house, but he wasn't there….I had expected to find his broken body laying beside his organ, but I only found a puddle of blood…..my angel's blood! I then checked the chapel, but he wasn't there either. By then, I broke down to my knees, and began to sob. My Erik, my angel…he was hurt, and I had no way of knowing where his body was. I began to think that perhaps I was too late. But then I heard the familiar voice of Madame Giry…. I looked up to see her standing over me, dressed in a black cloak, as if she had just gotten in from taking a midnight stroll. _

"_What are you doing here?" she asked in that strong French accent. "I would have thought you to be with your precious Viscount."_

_I told her about how I loved Erik, and how badly I wanted to see him again. Then she told me that he was alive, and that she had just come from hiding him in a safe place. I begged her, oh, how I begged her to tell me where he was. She didn't want to tell me and had started to walk away without giving me the one thing I had asked for. She told me that my Erik was in bad condition, and that she wasn't even sure how long he had left. I didn't care though, I still wanted to see him. I told her that I no longer cared for Raoul, and that I wanted Erik and nothing more. She looked at me, as if trying to find the truth within my eyes….She stayed like this for several minutes before finally telling me where my Erik was hidden. _

"_The Chatue Inn…..Room 9." was all she said, before slipping into the dark once more. I didn't waste anytime, in rushing out of the remains of the opera house, and rushing down the street, to the small Inn. Rain had began to pour, and thunder cracked within the sky just as I made it to my destination. When I arrived, I was surprised to find that the door to room 9 was unlocked and the inside was pitch black. I cautiously stepped inside, and closed the door behind me, locking it after doing so. I stood there in the dark, feeling myself around the room, hoping to find my angel. I heard something, almost like water running… I followed the sound, until I bumped into something hard…and it wasn't until I felt two hands grab my neck in a chokehold that I realized that the hands belonged to Erik…._

"_Erik…" I squealed out. "It's me, Christine…."_

_The arms around my neck loosened. I couldn't see his face, but trembled at his voice._

"_Christine? What are you doing here?"_

_I didn't know how to answer him…..and I didn't want to. We were finally alone together, and so I let my heart's feeling's surround him. For moments I just stood there, his hands still gently caressing my neck. And then….I touched him. My hands gently glided up the side of his neck, and felt the disfigured flesh that covered his face. I heard him gasp, but I wasn't about to stop…not now. Soon his hands were doing the same, feeling my neck, and face…..But my hands had enough of being confined to his face and the things I already knew…They wanted more, and soon my hands had found the lining of his trousers, and slipped beneath them, to find what I had never ever touched in all of my existence. When I grasped hold of what I had gone down for, I heard a sweet ravishing refrain escape his lips…..Soon his hands had found my hips, and he pulled me closer, causing the both of us to moan out yet another ravishing refrain. _

_He stopped me, but I didn't want to stop him…and I continued to touch him. Soon his arms clasped around me, and backed me up, and placed me down on something soft…..I presumed it was his bed, but I didn't care. He lay there atop of me, as I felt the music of his pulse and the singing in my veins…..And once again, I touched him, and managed to unclothe him completely before he began to do the same to me, caressing every single bare part of me that he could. Soon his hands had began to make their way down to my thighs, and as he touched me I couldn't help but groan….And with every breath and every sigh, I felt no longer scared and him no longer shy. For at last our feelings bared beneath a moonless sky….. _

_And blind in the dark, as I lay there on top of his bare body, as soul gazed into soul I looked into his heart and saw him pure and whole. The room was cold, and he covered our bodies with his cloak, wrapping it around us as we continued to explore one another's bodies….We were cloaked under the night with nothing to suppress…we were just a woman and a man no more and yet no less….. And then for the first time since earlier in the evening, he kissed me. I had once kissed him, and now he was kissing me… I caressed him, and let my tongue dance with his, there was no holding me back from what I purely wanted with him. And within that kiss, our world around us fell away. I began to straddle him, and as I did so, we both within our lust for one another's bodies said things in the dark we never dared to say in daylight. He groaned out that he loved me over and over again….and I did the same. He told me such erotic things, things that he wanted to do to me, and I had done the same while doing these things to him at the same time. And without another word, he caught me with his strong arms, and I ran my fingers over his chest, feeling horrible scars….many horrible scars. Scars that had been brought on by past abuse. I was so caught up within the moment of kissing him, that I never even noticed that he had took me until I felt a hard jolt enter within me, taking my childhood with him…..After he was inside me, he lay there for several moments afterwards, apologizing in my ear, but I was not sorry…I had wanted this, and now I was getting it…..I began to make love to him with a need to urgent to deny….our voices groaning and pleading to never stop…..Raoul never even came into mind that night. No, nothing mattered then expect for him and I… I knew he had never made love to a woman before, because our first time only lasted a few minutes. Even I, who had never had a man found climaxed rather quickly…..but those few minutes were the best I had ever felt… _

_Afterwards we lay there for only a few moments, before beginning again. I wasn't sure how many times we explored each other's bodies that night, but again and then again we continued this until we eventually fell asleep wrapped in each other's arms…. He told me he loved me, and I did the same…. I had thought I finally found my husband, my life, but things would turn out to be the total opposite. For when I awoke, I was no longer in his arms, I was alone….he had left me with nothing more than his cloak wrapped around my body to keep me warm. I sat up, and glanced around the small room, hoping to see him slipping out of the bathroom, but he wasn't here. The clothes that I had discarded on the floor were now gone, and so was his mask….the only thing left of proof that he was even here was the cloak that was wrapped around my naked body. _

_In a frantic motion, I threw on my clothes, and ran out of the inn, searching the streets for him, hoping to find any sign of my angel, but he left….he was gone….Without a note or any kind of letter stating where he was. And so with a heavy heart, I did the only thing I knew I could do…. I crawled back to Raoul with my tail between my legs, and married him. My night with Erik had gone by too quickly… In darkness my angel came, and in darkness he left…"_

By the time I had finished reading my mother's log, I had tears in my eyes. I began to think of what could have been….. If only my father had stayed. If he had, I could have known him my whole entire life….we could have been best friends from the start….And my mother would most likely still be was more to read, but I had read enough for one night. I shut the journal, and slipped it under my pillow, before dressing in my pajamas, and walking down the hall with my mother's butterfly hair piece in my hand. When I reached my father's room, I opened up the door to find him tossing and turning in bed, screaming out within his sleep.

"No…..please….stop….Oh, Christine….Christine…."

Quickly I ran to his side, and shook his shoulder to wake him up.

"Erik, Erik wake up!…."

It took a few moments, but after seeing my father wake, I took a step back and noticed him gasping for air.

"What? What are you doing in here?" he growled.

"I came to see if you were alright."

"I'm fine…." he replied, turning over in bed.

I stood there for a few moments, before I began to feel lonely again.

"Erik, can I please sleep with you?"

"You hate me, remember?" he reminded, pulling the blankets over his shoulder.

"I didn't mean to say that…."

"Then why did you say it? It must be true if you said it…."

"No, your anger is just like mine….sometimes I say things that I don't mean. I don't hate you…..It just made me upset when you said that mother left you with nothing…She left you with me…..don't I mean anything to you?"

My father sat up in bed, and motioned me to crawl in with him. He pulled me into his arms, and wrapped them around me as I cried into his night shirt.

"Don't I mean anything to you?"

"I'm sorry Gustave…..I didn't mean that. Your mother left me with the best gift of all….."

I looked at the butterfly hair piece that I held in my hand, and gave it to my father.

"What is this?" he asked looking at it.

"Mother's hair piece. I want you to have it…."

My father took it within his bony fingers, and ran them over its texture…..

"I gave this to your mother….and to think that she's kept it all these years…."

"You gave this to her?" I asked.

"Yes, one evening before she was to perform, I came to her dressing room and found her brushing her hair. She was dressed in the most beautiful gown I had ever seen her in, but she was missing one thing…a hair piece. This had belonged to my mother, and I had kept it with me all these years right up until I gave it to your mother."

"She's worn it everyday…..right up until we arrived at Coney Island."

"How come?"

"Because she told me that she didn't find it proper attire….perhaps she knew it would upset you if you seen her wearing it…."

"She wore it everyday?" he asked.

"Yes, it was like her ritual to place it on right after she combed her hair."

"Tell me Gustave, did your mother ever talk about me?"

I had yet to read the remaining entries in my mother's journal, and I could already feel that they were filled with more about my father, but I couldn't tell him….it would only break his heart.

"No…" I said. "She never spoke about you."

My father clenched the hairpiece to his heart, and I saw a few tears escape from his eyes.

"Oh, Christine…I knew you loved me…."

He was talking to thin air, as if waiting for my mother to answer him. After a few moments he placed the hairpiece down on the nightstand beside his monkey music box, and turned over to face me.

"It's just the two of us now, Gustave…" he replied. "I guess we'll have to start getting used to each other's company."

"Will I go to school?" I asked.

"I don't believe so…. I will teach you myself."

"Did you school yourself?" I asked.

"Yes, and now I shall teach you. I shall teach you everything I know."

We lay there in silence for a few moments, before I did something I shouldn't have done. I reached out from the covers, and began tickling my father in the stomach….. He ached when I did so, and grabbed my hands with his.

"What are you doing, boy?" he cursed….

"I'm sorry.." I said. "I was just trying to tickle you…."

"Well if you are truly my son, then you should know that I'm not ticklish in my stomach….."

He then released my hands, and began to tickle me under my arms…..the exact place where I was ticklish…I laughed, and pleaded him to stop, and I could have sworn that a small smile formed across his face.

"What are you going to do about it?" he questioned. "Seems that you are my son…..you're ticklish in the exact same spot that I am…."

I then pounced on my father, and began tickling him under his arms… He laughed, and grabbed me once more….

"Ok, settle down now." he replied.

"Who found your ticklish spot?" I asked.

"Your mother….. We were dancing down here one evening, and she asked me where I was ticklish. I told her that I didn't know and so she experimented with me…."

"You miss her, don't you?"

"Every moment of everyday….."

He placed me down beside him, and covered us up….

"It's very late Gustave, please get some rest."

I snuggled up beside him, and closed my eyes, glad to be within the safe embrace of my father's arms.

"Goodnight, Erik….." I said ever so softly, almost a whisper.

"Goodnight, my son…."

And with that, I fell asleep once more….

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**Ok, please please please let me know what you think! **


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey everyone, thanks again for the reviews. Here's the next chapter you've been searching for! I am always up for ideas from my readers so please….don't hesitate. **

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**Gustave's POV**

Later that evening as I lay beside my father, I could once again sense that he was having another nightmare. I tried to ignore the fact that he was moaning in his sleep, but when he hit me with his arm while in the process of tossing and turning, I could no longer lay there. I was no longer tired, and so I crawled out of bed without disturbing my father, and walked to my room to grab the journal that I had placed under my pillow. I knew if I lit a candle and began to read another one of my mother's entries, my father was likely to wake…. I didn't want him knowing that I had my mother's journal or what was written inside it, so I decided to make my way to the opera house chapel to pray for my mother and read the next log there. As I slipped out into the dark hallway, I knew that my father was still asleep, because I could still hear him groaning in his bed. Once I made it to the gondola, I hopped into it and began steering myself towards the other end.

It was scary at night, because the only thing lighting the way was the lantern that was lit on the front of the gondola. The air was chilly, and I cursed the fact that I didn't grab a cloak before leaving. When I docked the gondola, I hopped out of it, and carried my mother's journal all the way to the chapel. I was glad to find that I was alone. I had expected it to be that way because of how late into the night it was. There was a new match placed beside my mother's picture, and so I swiped it, and placed the flame over the wick of the candle that was placed beside my grandfather and mother's picture. I then knelt down, and opened the dark journal to find just enough light to read my mother's next page. I opened the book to where I had left off, and flipped the page to find a small drawing of my mother taped to the page, and another section of my mother's writing. Curious about what she had to say, I took a breath, and began to read it.

"_January 6__th__ 1871 _

_I searched for Erik all throughout the day… My heart was aching to find him, but as the hours went on, I realized that I had a wedding to attend, my wedding. The thought of finding my Erik kept me going. I had thought to find him, swear my love to him, and then marry him and forget all about Raoul….but sadly that never happened. When I returned to the DeChangy estate, I was met with an angry fiancée. He was standing there in his wedding tuxedo, and in a rage over where I had been. I couldn't tell him the truth, how on earth was I ever to tell him where I had been, or what I had done. It was forever more going to be my secret…He didn't have to know the love I felt for my Erik. But how was I to tell Raoul that I didn't want to marry him? How was I to tell him that all this time, my heart had belonged to someone else? I loved Raoul, but as a brother…..He was there as my childhood friend, and I would always see him for nothing more. _

_But instead of telling the man how I felt, I married him. I wasn't strong enough to tell Raoul how I really felt….and besides, Erik was gone, wasn't he? I hated my wedding, oh, how I hated it! I was standing at an alter surrounded by Raoul's rich and snobby family… This hadn't been the wedding I had wanted. As I stood there hand in hand with Raoul as the priest went on about love, I couldn't think of anything more than what my wedding with Erik could have been like? Oh, I imaged it within my head, like a dream, a wonderful dream…. Erik and I standing before God's eyes, in a beautiful little garden that was in our yard…yes, our yard. A garden that Erik had planted…a garden full of red and white roses, roses that would make our yard smell so beautiful. And we would stand there underneath an arbor with beautiful vines twirling up each side of it…..We wouldn't need strange people standing around to witness our marriage….No, Erik had no one, and neither did I…. We wouldn't need to be married in a church, or during a mass…We would be married before God, a vow that just him and I would promise one another…. And then we would exchange rings right before he would carry me over the threshold of our cottage…. A cottage that Erik himself would have built from his bare hands….. There would be a beautiful music room that we would spend hour after hour in, singing away the day together…. I would cook for him in our kitchen, and call him in from working on his music to enjoy every meal together…and then at night, we would find our way up the stairs to our bedroom, where we would spend the remaining hours of the night making sweet passionate love to one another….Yes, it was such a beautiful dream….a dream that would never come true. _

_Soon the priest began asking me if I would take Raoul to be my lawfully wedded husband, and like a fool I blurted out "Yes." Even our first kiss as man and wife was just disgusting….Kissing Raoul was like kissing…kissing my brother! I wasn't happy…not happy at all….Raoul was parading me around the estate, introducing me to everyone of his friends and business men… This was not how I imagined my wedding being. And instead of dancing, and eating cake, Raoul left me to talk some business with his employers. I sighed, and walked my way out to the garden to be left alone for a while…. But as I sat there on the bench, I looked out into the woods to notice two glowing eyes watching me….I knew those eyes anywhere! My Erik! He had come to save me! I knew this! Quickly, I discarded my veil, and ran towards the eyes… Indeed it was my Erik… He was standing there in the woods, wearing his cloak…..He seemed upset over the fact that I had married Raoul, but none of that mattered now! I would toss my ring off just to be with him…_

"_Erik…" I cried, throwing myself onto him._

_He backed away, and I looked up in his eyes to see that he was sobbing. _

"_You married him…" he said, his tone strict and angry._

_This had made me angry as well, and I slapped him in the face. He left me this morning like some whore, and he was angry at me? I was the one that should have been angry, not him!_

"_I thought you left me!" I cried. "I thought you didn't care about me."_

"_Well, shows how much you care about me….I'm gone for six hours and you up and marry Raoul…"_

"_Erik, please…" I begged. "I don't want this… I thought you were gone."_

"_Well then, good luck with your life…"_

_He tried to walk away, but I caught his arm and pulled him back._

"_Erik, please…"_

"_No, Christine. It's too late, you're married."_

"_No, I can change this…." I pleaded. "I want you, I want to marry you…..Think of it Erik, think about us, think about marrying me in a garden through the eyes of God…."_

_He sighed, and took out his pocket watch…he glared at it for a few moments before shutting it, and placing it back into his pocket. _

"_I'm leaving Paris…" he said. "The ship is pulling out at four a.m."_

"_Let me come with you! I want you, Erik!"_

_I clung my arms around him, and pulled his body against mine, pleading for him to take me with him to where ever he was going._

"_You can't just leave your wedding." he cursed. "They would be after me with torches and pitchforks."_

"_Then when?"_

_He gently pulled me away from his embrace, and gazed down into my eyes._

"_Are you sure this is what you want?" he asked._

"_Positive…"_

"_Then meet me at the inn tonight, same room….. Raoul will be asleep, and we'll be long gone by the time he realizes that you've left France….."_

"_I promise you…" I said. "I promise I'll be at your room by three…."_

"_You should be getting back to your wedding now, before people start looking for you…"_

_I smiled at him, and reached up to indulge myself once more within his kiss….. We stood there for several moments, drowning in one another's embrace, and he was the one who broke away._

"_I love you, Christine Daae…" Those words, those beautiful words ran through my body like a knife cutting through a stick of butter. But sadly those words were the last I would ever hear from him… How I wanted to say it, and I even opened my mouth to say it back, but at that exact moment, I heard someone calling my name from a distance…_

"_I'll see you tonight, my love…." was the last thing he said, before slipping away. I wanted to run to him, but I knew I would be in his embrace once more soon enough. I returned to my wedding, and spent the rest of the miserable day with Raoul, thinking about being able to sleep beside him once more. When the party was over, I crept up to my room to change, and get ready to slip out, but Raoul….that damn bastard wouldn't let me escape. He wanted to make me his, he wanted to make love to me…but I wouldn't let him. I gave him an excuse, telling him that I wasn't feeling good and that we would do it another night. But that night, he slept beside me with his arms wrapped around my body, and when I tried to get up, he was awake to wonder where I was off to. I couldn't escape, it was going to be possible. I lay there through the night, hearing the grandfather clock strike the hour…..By the time Raoul fell asleep, it was three thirty, and I was already late. I then managed to escape without him knowing, but by the time I reached the inn, Erik was already gone, with nothing left in the room but a hand drawn picture of me placed on the nightstand. When I picked it up, I flipped it over to see that it was a letter written to me….by Erik. I sobbed as I read the heartbreaking words, and afterwards I ran…Oh, how I ran. I ran towards the docks, to try an catch up to my angel before it was too late…..but the whistle blew before I even reached the docks, and the ship was already halfway out into the ocean…. It was over, he was gone….my angel was gone….forever! I didn't know where he was off to, but this just couldn't be the end. _

_I returned that day, and sobbed…Oh, how I sobbed. And out of my sobbing came an idea. I would write…write letters to him… And even though I had no idea where to send them, I continued to write…..These letters were all the contact I had left with my angel, and even though I cannot send them to any address, perhaps he could feel each word, each phrase, each sentence, and each letter that I would write…..and perhaps he would know that I still love him, and that I'm sorry for being late…"_

When I finished reading my mother's log, I untapped the picture that was attached the opposite page, and flipped it over to find my father's scratchy handwriting. This was the exact letter that my mother had found in the room….and I had to read it.

"_Christine,_

_How my heart aches waiting for you. You had promised me a companion, a life long companion who you wanted to travel with and marry. You had promised me to be here by three thirty but it is now a quarter to four….I cannot wait any longer. I have spent the last twenty years waiting, waiting for something, someone….that someone being you. I know that you probably wound up making love to Raoul, for it is your wedding night…I know that right now you are probably curled up within his embrace, and have long since forgot about me…..Perhaps we shall meet again someday, perhaps in heaven, or in hell….but until that day comes, my love, I shall wish you nothing but the best. My heart has grown weary and I cannot tell how long I shall go on living without you, but perhaps it would be better to die instead of having to go on living with a piece of my heart missing…Madame Giry and Meg have come to take me with them to a destination I shall not tell you about…..How I wish you were here beside me, but there is nothing more I can do to beg of your love….I have tried everything, but I know your heart has always and will always belong to that boy…._

_I must go now, but know that my love for you shall never die….._

_Your angel, your love_

_Erik"_

When I finished reading aloud the last word, I placed the letter back in my mother's journal, and closed it…..My mother had written letters to my father, and he deserved to see them. Before I could ponder any longer on this, I heard a familiar voice from behind me.

"That was a beautiful letter…"

I turned around, and noticed Reneasia standing behind me with a candle in her hand.

"What are you doing here, Reneasia? It's late…"

"I couldn't sleep….so I decided to come and pray, but I see that you've already beat me to it. What are you reading?"

I glanced at the journal, and placed it in my pocket.

"Nothing, just a story….."

"What ever it was seemed beautiful. Sort of like Romeo and Juliet. Oh, was it a love story?"

"Something like that.."

"Could I see?"

"No, it's private, it's something that belonged to my mother."

Reneasia knelt down beside her father's picture, and lit his candle.

As I stood there thinking about the letters my mother had written to my father, I came up with the idea of the girl helping me….Yes, we could sneak into the estate after dark, and steal back my mother's letters. I had to, they were rightfully my father's, and if Raoul ever found them I knew he would do more than just destroy them…..

"Reneasia, we're friends, right?" I asked.

She looked up at me, and shrugged her shoulders.

"I guess so, Gustave…why?"

"Because I need to ask you for a favor…."

"What sort of favor?"

"Well, my mother wrote these letters to my father and they're still back at the old place I lived at. I was wondering if perhaps you would want to go with me and find them."

She gave me a strange look, before shaking her head.

"I'm not supposed to leave the opera house. I'll get into trouble….."

"It be at night. No one would know you're gone…please, I need to get these letters."

"What's in it for me?"

"What do you mean?" I questioned, plopping down beside her.

"If I'm going to risk getting into trouble for you, then what are you going to do for me?"

"What do you want?"

She smiled, and blurted out the answer she had dwelling within her mind.

"Take me to your house…take me to where you live…"

"I can't do that!" Ugh, the thought of what my father would do to me if he found out I brought another human to our home was enough to make me want to forget about the letters all together.

"And why not?" she asked. "It's either your home, or I'm not helping you…."

I pulled her to her bare feet, and opened the passageway I had come through.

"Alright, come on…."

"Right now?" she questioned.

"No better time."

She followed me through the passageway, and to the gondola. When she saw it, she took a few cautious steps back, frightened by its appearance.

"Are you coming or not?" I asked.

"I don't like boats….isn't there another way to your home?"

"For one, it's not a boat, it's a gondola, and second, no there isn't another way."

I hopped into it, and held out my hand to help her in. Once I sat her down, I picked up the stick, and began to steer us back home. The only reason I was even taking her home was because I knew the beast was asleep…..My father always seemed harmless when he slept….

"Aren't you afraid?" she asked.

"Afraid of what?"

"These waters are haunted by the Phantom of the Opera…."

My father had mentioned himself being once known as the Phantom of the opera, but I wasn't afraid…..he was my father….

"Why are you so afraid of the Phantom of the Opera?" I questioned. "Isn't it just a myth?"

"It's a popular bedtime story now, but it was once true….ten years ago, he lurked these catacombs…Some say, he was an escaped freak from a traveling fair that found sanctuary within these walls. Others say he was a horribly disfigured baby birthed from a ballerina who had been raped and left to raise himself down here…."

"It's not true…" I blurted out.

"Yes it is…..he was described as being a horribly disfigured monster who dressed in black and wore a white mask to hide his face….He lurked in the rafters and fell in love with this ballerina Christine Daae…..He taught her to sing, and in return forbid her to love anyone other than himself. But Christine fell in love with another, and this made the Phantom angry…He killed people, and brought down a chandelier, right before burning down the auditorium."

I never heard the story of my father before, and I wasn't sure if any of it was true, but if it was, my father was an angry man…inside and out. But he wasn't like that now…he was kind, maybe he had a few screws loose, but he was nothing like what Reneasia was describing.

"So what happened to him?" I asked.

"Some say he died, others say he was killed by the mob, and others believe that he's still lurking these catacombs, waiting for his Christine to come back to him…."

"Christine is dead…" I said with a heavy heart. "She…..she was my mother…"

Reneasia's eyes widened upon hearing this….

"Christine was your mother!"

Before I could answer her, the gondola had changed directions, and we were being pulled into a darker part of the lake, a darker part that I had never seen before…

"What's happening?" she asked.

"I'm not sure…."

I tried to use the stick to steer the gondola out of the place we were headed, but when I stuck it into the water, it was caught by something underneath, causing it to stand straight up, and for our gondola to continue drifting….And it was then that I began to realize that my father had turned on the traps to protect his lair from anyone entering during the night….Soon the gondola was spinning in a whirlpool, and I fell out and landed in the water….

"Gustave!" Reneasia shouted my name, but I struggled within the water…..I couldn't swim!

She reached her small hand over the side of the gondola to try and grab my hand, and I managed to keep myself above water level and grab hold of her. As we continued to spin within the whirlpool, she tried to pull me back in, but sadly the gondola flipped over and now we were both in the water clinging to one another…..

"I can't swim!" I shouted.

"Hold onto me!"

"I am!"

As we clung to one another, I saw a pair of eyes gleaming at me from a nearby wall. And soon, Reneasia saw this as well, and shouted out something horrifying.

"It's him, the Phantom of the Opera!"

And indeed it was….But a rope plopped into the water, and I grabbed onto it.

"Grab it!" I said.

"No, he'll kill us…" she shouted.

"He's my father!"

"The Phantom is your father!"

"Gustave! Grab on!"

I looked up, and saw my father clinging to the wall, and holding out the rope to me. I managed it grab it, and my father pulled me to safety…..and he wasn't about to save Reneasia….

"Come, we must get you warm!" he scolded. I pulled him by his arm, and tried to throw the rope out to Reneasia.

"What are you doing!"

"Saving her!"

"Are you mad! She'll tell on me!"

"She saved me, Erik! We have to save her!"

I knew my father didn't like the idea of it, but he helped me pull her to safety…. I could see fear in her eyes, as she looked up at my father. I knew she feared him….

"I want to go home…" she cried.

"You won't be doing such a thing…" my father replied. "You know that I'm here, and you'll squeal on me…"

"I won't do such a thing…." she promised. "I swear…."

My father just looked at us both, and gave me a dirty look, before turning his cloak in his direction and growling "Come, before you freeze to death…"

"Erik…"

My father turned to me, and grabbed me by my night shirt.

"I am disappointed in you, Gustave! Truly disappointed…..you bring me such grief…."

I didn't say another word, for I knew I was in deep trouble…and I dreaded reaching home, for I had no idea what punishment was to come once we arrived…What sort of punishment does the Phantom of the Opera give to a disobeying child? And with that thought, I gulped, and continued following my father and Reneasia home…..

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**Ok, please please please review! Thanks!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Wow, so everyone really loves this story! I posted this up quickly because of all the reviews I have been getting. Please keep them coming. Some new characters coming in….hope you like!**

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**Gustave's POV**

I was scared, never had I ever been so scared in my entire life. A punishment was coming my way, but god, who knew all about punishments coming from a Phantom? If his hands had blood spilled on them, then God only knows what lay my way. When we arrived back at the lair, he built a fire, and draped his cloak around Reneasia's soaking wet body. I stood there in the middle of the room shivering from my wet clothes, and fear. My father however, just gawked at me with those eyes that were hiding behind his mask, and ordered me to go right to my room and change.

Without hesitating, I did just that, and pulled the journal out of my pocket. It had gotten wet, but the inside was still dry. I placed it underneath my pillow to hide it from my father, and undressed out of my wet clothes just in the nick of time, for when I slid a new shirt over my body, my father came barging in my room full of anger.

"How dare you!" he growled. "How dare you have contact with another human being within the opera house!"

I took a few steps back towards the bed, and snapped right back at him.

"We're friends…..she won't tell on you…"

"How can you be certain! She's a human, she'll….she'll rat me out just like any other! What makes her any different than any other human being?"

"She's kind…."

My father grabbed me by the collar of my shirt, and pulled me to him, his fist clenching so tightly around the fabric that it turned his knuckles white.

"Kind! Kindness isn't going to save us!"

"You had mother!" I cried out. "Wasn't mother the same way? wasn't she kind? Did she ever tell on you? No!"

"Your mother was different!" he shouted. "How? How was she different? She was a human too! I'm a human!"

"You will not speak to me in such a way!" he growled, pulling me back into the main room where Reneasia was still seated. And then he slapped me…..nothing drastic, just a slight slap that stung on my cheek…

"Please, monsieur, let me go back to my mother….I won't tell…."

Erik stood over her, and took a few breaths to calm down his rage.

"Did I ever tell you the story of the little gypsy girl who came down where she shouldn't have, and disappeared forever more….."

Reneasia gasped in horror, but I wasn't going to have this. He wasn't going to harm her…..

"No! if she goes missing, all the people from the opera house will come down here looking for her. We're more likely to be discovered that way, rather than her telling on us….."

My father stood there for several seconds, realizing that I was right.

"My son has a point…" he growled. "So let me make things perfectly clear…" he pulled the girl to her feet, and knelt down so that he was face to face with the terrified child.

"If you ever breathe a word of my existence to anyone of those sniveling monsters that lurk above ground, even your own mother, I will come up there and haunt you forever more….."

"Yes, monsieur phantom…." she cried. "Never, I promise."

"So when your mother asks you why you're soaking wet…."

"I'll tell her I fell into the underground lake….."

He patted the girl on the shoulder, and gave her one of his famous evil smiles.

"You've got smarts, girl…you're not stupid at all…."

My father grabbed a key, and was about to leave with Reneasia, when I tried to follow. Though, my father only glared back at me and snapped once more…

"Not you! You're grounded, young man….."

"I want to come with you…"

"No! and since you destroyed my gondola, you can have the privilege of helping me repair it….."

"But…"

"Go to your room!"

I looked at Reneasia, and sighed.

"Goodbye, Reneasia…"

"Bye, Gustave…."

My father pulled the girl to his side, and pointed to the hall.

"To your room!"

I turned my back, and did as I was told…I wouldn't let my father shun me away from Reneasia. She was different than other beings, and I enjoyed her company. I was going to see her again, and soon. She and I made a deal to find the letters, and I was going to do just that…The following morning however, my punishment only worsened. When I decided to crawl out of my room, my father was there waiting for me….

"And where do you think you're going?" he growled.

"No where…" I said.

"Exactly, because you're grounded, remember?"

"She's not a bad person, Erik….."

"I didn't say she was, but one slip, and we could be in some serious trouble….."

"You can't keep me from being friends with her…You had mother….and I have no one besides her.."

"You have me!" he shouted. "Am I not good enough for you, you sniveling brat!"

I gasped at my father's words, and ran back into my room, slamming the door in his face.

"Open up!" he pounded against the door.

"No! go away, Erik!"

"You have until the count of three to come out of that room, or so help me god, I'll break it down!"

I stood there against the door, not moving a muscle.

"One…two….two and a half…..GUSTAVE! Open up!"

I stood back, and opened the door, only to have my father barge in and grab me by the arm….

"Let's go! You're helping me fish out my gondola from the lake! And then, young man, you are going to help me fix the hole in it…."

My father drug me out into the dark catacombs, where he led me down a passageway to where he had saved me just hours before. The water had long since stopped twirling, and my father was able to jump in the water and pull what was left of the gondola out of the murky liquid…..

"Look at this mess!" he groaned, inspecting the hole within the front of it…. "It'll take me months to repair."

"We wouldn't have had a problem if you didn't have your traps running…." I sneered.

"Those traps are for mine and your protection!"

"From what!" I screamed. "No one even knows we're down here!"

"That's not the point! It's for our safety…now help me pull this back to the house…."

I grabbed an end of the gondola, and helped my father carry it back down the passageway. When we were home, he sat it up on the stone dock he had, and began to tear apart the broken planks of wood that had snapped….

"Your mother once rode in this….and now look at it…ruined!"

"It's not unfixable…" I stated. "Just needs a new plank of wood."

"Don't tell me what I need, boy!" he growled. "Supplies are hard enough to get within this damn opera house…."

I sat down, and watched as my father began to dry out the soaked gondola. I knew he was mad at me, but I couldn't help but want to apologize to him. Not for seeing Reneasia, but for using his gondola.

"I'm sorry…I shouldn't have…."

"That's right, you shouldn't have…..but saying you're sorry isn't going to turn back time, now is it?"

"Reneasia isn't going to tell anyone about me, Erik…please don't make me stop seeing her."

"Do you know the first thing your mother called me when I first saw her?" he asked.

"No, what?"

"Angel, she called me an angel…" a smile formed across his lips, and I even heard a sweet sigh escape him. "Funny how one could miss the slightest of things."

"I know…I miss her too."

"I'm not an unreasonable man, Gustave…I just care for you, that's all. I'm willing to give you some freedom….."

"What do you mean?"

"Let's just say that tonight the traps won't be turned on…..and let's just say that you can go up to that chapel, if you promise to stay in the chapel…."

"Really?" I asked. "You'd let me…"

"If you stay in the chapel….."

This was my perfect chance, I would be able to see Reneasia again, and I would be able to go to the estate to find the letters…..

"Yes, I will…."

"No place other than the chapel…." he instructed….

Quickly, I threw my arms around him, and thanked him over and over again…..I hated having to lie to him, but what was I to do? Raoul had something that belonged to my father….. I knew I had still upset Erik for my previous actions, and he demanded to be left alone for the remainder of the day. He locked himself inside his bedroom, and I could hear him playing soft yet beautiful music on his violin as I prepared for the night's events. I knew how to crack into the estate without Raoul knowing, hell, I had done it a thousand times over again. When I lived there, I often slipped out at night to watch the stars. What my parents didn't know, was that I slipped back in during the night through a basement window that was always kept open. Tonight, Reneasia and I would sneak in through the same window, and search for the letters. That night, I threw on my cloak, and went knocking on my father's bedroom door to tell him that I was on my way…. When I didn't get a response, I opened the door to find him hunched over his bed, still dressed in the same clothes he had been working in….but the good part was that he was asleep. Quietly, I shut the door, and ran down the passage way with the journal in one hand, and a lantern in the other. When I arrived at the chapel, to my surprise, Reneasia was already there…praying…

"Hello…" I said, my voice almost a whisper.

She stopped praying, and looked over at me.

"Please don't tell me we're doing this? Your father is going to get awfully angry if he finds you gone…."

"He's asleep. Besides, we'll be back before he even wakes."

I climbed up on the ledge of the chapel, and cracked open the window so we could sneak out.

"We'll, are you coming or not?" I asked, extending my hand out to her…

She accepted, and I pulled her outside. Once we were there, I inhaled the chilly air, and sighed…..it sure felt good to be outside again.

"So, where are we headed?" she asked.

I held the lantern out to light my way, and began to walk with her at my side.

"So tell me, how is that you're Christine's son, and his at the same time? The story goes that she married another man, and they lived happily ever after…"

"Well they didn't did they? My mother wrote in her journal that she never wanted to marry anyone other than my father."

"Your father scares me…"

"I know, he scares me too, but anything is better than living with the man I've been calling father for the past ten years. My father's heart is in the right place, I assure you…."

"So what letters are we looking for?" she asked.

"In my mother's journal, she wrote that she had all these letters that she wrote to my father…..I want to find them, and give them to him….I feel as if perhaps my mother would have wanted it that way…"

"But what if we're spotted?" she asked.

"We'll be fine…."

We passed street after street, heading up to the DeChangy estate….When we arrived, I noticed that the iron gates were closed. This didn't stop me, for I was small enough to slink through the bars with no problem at all, and Reneasia was able to do the same. The only problem was that the lantern was too thick to squeeze through….so I had to extinguish it and leave it at the gates.

"Where to now?" she asked.

I grabbed her by the hand, and led her through the yard and around the corner to where the basement window was….and of course, as always, it was open. I warned Reneasia to stay where she was until I slipped through incase there was any danger. Once I was inside, I held out my hand to help her through as well.

"What if your old dad is walking around the house?" she questioned.

I motioned her to be quiet, and took her hand to lead her up the stairs quietly. Always at this hour, the maids had long since gone to bed, leaving the hallways empty and dark. I knew my way around like the back of my hand, and began leading Reneasia through the hallways and up the staircase to my father's room. I crept along like a child trying to sneak past his parents on a late night to get out, only this time, I was sneaking in. Once we were up the stairs, I pressed Reneasia against the wall in order to hear if Raoul was around, but the hallways were silent. Carefully, I reached the bedroom door, and opened it slowly incase Raoul was inside sleeping…..I sighed, when I realized that the room was empty…..Where was he? At the bar? That was a possibility…

"All clear…" I whispered, motioning Reneasia to follow me inside.

When she was beside me, I closed the door without making any sound, and began rummaging through my mother's drawers.

"What should I do?" she asked.

"Just keep watch…..if you hear anything at all, let me know…"

Drawer after drawer I rummaged through everything, keeping a clean path along the way. When I found nothing but clothes, I went on to her over sized jewelry box, opening every little secret door it had…

"She had to keep them someplace private…" exclaimed Reneasia.

"Why would you think that?"

"So her husband would never find them….."

The girl was right…..but I didn't know where else to search…..

"Let's try the closet…" Reneasia suggested.

I agreed, and jumped down from my mother's vanity, and scurried across the floor to reach the closet where my friend was standing…but stopped when I ran over a makeshift rug laying near my mother's side of the bed and heard a squeak….. I stopped, and ran my foot up against the noise, and found it quite funny…..and then I realized what the squeak meant; a loose floorboard! And where there were loose floorboards, there were hidden objects. I pulled away the rug, and knelt down to notice a board that didn't look like all the rest…

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"I think I found them…"

Reneasia rushed to my side, and helped me pull at the board….

"Pull harder." I said…

At the same time, we both pulled, and finally managed to pry it away from the floor…..I then reached my hand inside the dark hole, and felt around until I felt a bundle of paper, and pulled it out…..And there in my hand was a thick bundle of fading parchment bound in a black ribbon…..I dusted them off, and smiled when I realized that the bundle was not just a bundle of paper, it was a bundle of sealed envelopes with my father's name written across the top one….This was it! I had found them.

"Is that what you were looking for?" she asked.

"Yes, I believe so…"

"Well untie it…let's have a look…"

My fingers pried around the black ribbon, and were about to pull it loose, when I heard the muffled sound of several men talking and approaching the room. Quickly I threw back on the floorboard, and covered it with the rug before darting to the closet. I opened it, and pulled Reneasia in with me….and just in the nick of time…. Moments later, the door opened, and the lights were turned on… I peeked out from a hole in the door, to see Raoul entering with a bunch of thuggish looking men. He approached his side of the room, and took out a map before spreading it over his bed.

"He has traps, you see…..they're set up all within the water. You must stay out of it, or else who knows what in God's name they'll do to you…."

All I could ponder at that moment, was what in the world Raoul was going on about.

"Right here, in the beginning…" I saw Raoul place his finger on the map. "And right here…"

"And when we reach his home, what do we do to him?" asked one of the men dressed in a red shirt and brown trousers.

"What ever the hell you want…Stab him, drown him, do what ever….Just bring me Christine's will….Turn the place upside down…"

"So we should kill him?"

"Do what you must…Just bring back her will, and everything that belongs to her. That monster deserves nothing!"

"What about the boy?"

"That creature's spawn? Kill him too….."

"A child?"

"Kill him, and I'll pay you double of what you're all getting now…"

I gasped, they were talking about me! They were talking about my father…..I needed to get back! I needed to warn him.

Raoul handed the map to one of the men, and they went walking out of the room, shutting the door on their way out. When the coast was clear, I came out of the closet, and ran over to the window…. And when I looked down, I was terrified at what I saw. There, near the gates was a mob of twelve or thirteen men in a wooden cart, ready to pull out…In their hands they had torches and pitch forks and god knows what else….

"We have to warn my father…" I said, grabbing Reneasia's hand.

"They'll get there faster than us…" she stated.

"Not if I can help it…."

I snuck back to the basement, and crawled out of the window, pulling Reneasia with me. I once again told her to be quiet, and snuck towards the cart…..

"What are we going to do?"

I placed my hand over Reneasia's mouth, and crawled underneath the cart and motioned for her to hold onto the railing underneath…..I wasn't going to risk loosing my father. Once she was situated, I did the same, and held on tightly as the cart began to move towards the opera house…..To secure the journal and letters, I placed them into my shirt and kept an eye on my friend as the bumpy ride continued towards the opera house….. When we arrived, I waited until all the men were gone, before dropping myself, and helping Reneasia off from where she was holding onto. The men were over at a side window, trying to bust their way in, but I had a quicker way.

"Come on…" I said, pulling Reneasia with me to the chapel window. I quickly snuck back through, and opened the secret passageway towards home.

"We need to warn my father…" I reminded her, as I pulled her arm.

But just as I made it to the stone passageway that my father had walked along earlier that day, I heard the sound of angry men marching their way towards my home…I wasn't about to give up on getting to my father, but I only hoped it wasn't already too late…

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**Ok, More action to come soon! If I get a lot of updates, I might get it up faster… Please review! Thanks! In the next chapter, I'm bringing Reneasia's mother into the story…..sorry that she didn't make it into this one….**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey everyone, thanks again for the reviews! Here's another chapter that you've all been waiting for….**

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**Gustave's POV**

**Previously…..**

I placed my hand over Reneasia's mouth, and crawled underneath the cart and motioned for her to hold onto the railing underneath…..I wasn't going to risk loosing my father.

Once she was situated, I did the same, and held on tightly as the cart began to move towards the opera house…..To secure the journal and letters, I placed them into my shirt and kept an eye on my friend as the bumpy ride continued towards the opera house….. When we arrived, I waited until all the men were gone, before dropping myself, and helping Reneasia off from where she was holding onto. The men were over at a side window, trying to bust their way in, but I had a quicker way.

"Come on…" I said, pulling Reneasia with me to the chapel window. I quickly snuck back through, and opened the secret passageway towards home.

"We need to warn my father…" I reminded her, as I pulled her arm.

But just as I made it to the stone passageway that my father had walked along earlier that day, I heard the sound of angry men marching their way towards my home…I wasn't about to give up on getting to my father, but I only hoped it wasn't already too late…

I pulled Reneasia with me down another path that was heading away from home, and the girl tugged at my arm.

"Gustave! You're heading in the wrong direction! Home is the other way."

"I have an idea…" I said.

When we reached the other side, there was a lever with a skull as a handle….I knew this was how my father turned on the traps within the water, and so I pulled it and a spark flew from the contraption…..

"But they're not in the water!" shouted Reneasia. "They passed it!"

"Come on, I have an idea…."

Now that the traps were on, I pulled Reneasia back down the path, and towards my home. Once we were there, I noticed that the front door was busted in, and the men were already raiding my home…..I was able to sneak in, and hide under my bed with Reneasia without being seen…..I was scared, but I had an idea, and I was hoping it would work….. It was then, that I heard a horrible scream…. I gasped, and noticed my father being brought into my room by two men. He was bleeding, and his shirt was torn in several spots with blood gushing out of him….

"Where is the will!" shouted one of the men that had my father by his shirt….

"I don't know what you're talking about…."

The man wasn't satisfied with my father's answer, and punched him in the jaw.

"Where is the will!"

"Go..go to hell!" my father shouted.

The man was anywhere from being pleased, and disappeared for a few moments. I tried to come from under the bed, but my father spotted me, and motioned me to stay where I was…..

When the man came back, he was carrying a pitchfork…..this scared me. Reneasia wanted to scream in fear, but I pushed her head down so she would have to look. I didn't know what was about to happen, but I stayed still like my father motioned…

"Ok, I'm going to ask you one last time….where is the will?"

As the moments passed, the man placed the sharpened edges of the pitch fork up to my father's chest…I knew my father didn't have my mother's will, and so quickly placed the letters down beside Reneasia, and slipped from underneath the bed to try and stop the man, but it was already too late…The man had pushed the pitchfork through my father, causing him to gasp, and fall over as soon as the man removed it from him.

I screamed….oh, how I screamed for him.

"Ah, look, the little boy…" said the man, coming to me…

"I….I know where the will is…." I lied, hoping my plan was going to work.

"Do you know? Where is it…."

The man grabbed me by my shirt, and pulled me so close to his face, that I could smell his horrible breath.

"It's in the lake….."

"The lake? You lie! You lie!"

"No, I don't….my father hid it in a chamber within the center of the lake just incase something like this would ever happen. The traps are off…This I swear to you…."

"Well then, you can go in and get it for us, now…."

"I can't swim…" I said. "And I'm the only one who knows where it is…But the traps are only going to stay off for another twenty minutes. Once they're turned back on, my mother's will is going to be swallowed up in one of the traps….."

"Thanks, and I'm sorry I must do this, but your little Raoul asked me to kill you….."

I gasped, as the man threw me up against the wall and left the room, locking the door behind him. I ran to the door, and tried to open it, but I couldn't….Reneasia came from underneath the bed, and knelt down beside my father's body, shaking him to get up… When I turned to look at him, I could see nothing but blood seeping out from underneath him…

"He needs help…" she said.

I began to smell smoke, and soon it was seeping from underneath the door…. The men had set the lair on fire!

"I need to get out of here!" I exclaimed….

I searched the room for something I could break the door down with, but there was nothing.

Reneasia then went into her hair, and took out a pin….

"Here, pick the lock…."

I snatched the pin out of her hand, and ran back over to the door and began to pick at the lock…

"It's not working…." I coughed, breathing in the smoky atmosphere.

"Concentrate, Gustave…." she cried.

I continued to pick the lock, and finally it came loose, and I was able to rush out into the hall where the fire was coming from. They had set my father's library on fire, and I had to get it under control while I could. The men had left, but I knew my plan had worked, because I could hear screaming coming from the lake….. I grabbed an empty trash pail, and ran out to the lake and filled it up with the water before bringing it back to the library and dumping it on the flames…Three times I did this, before I actually got the flames completely extinguished. The smoke had left the lair foggy, and from what I could see, the men had completely destroyed the lair…..everything was overturned, and my father's things were smashed…..I knew right then and there that we couldn't stay here…. I ran back into my room, and grabbed the letters and my mother's journal before rushing over to my father…..He was pale, and gushing blood out of every one of his wounds….I knew if I didn't get him help soon, he was going to die.

"What am I going to do?"

Reneasia patted me on the back, and helped me to my feet.

"I know someone who can help."

"Who?"

"My mother, she was a nurse for the army…just before she joined the gypsies…."

"We need to get him my room." said Reneasia. "But how?"

I thought for a few moments, and wondered what path to take…..and then out in the hall, I noticed the map laying there…the same map Raoul had given the man. I snatched it, and showed it to Reneasia.

"Where's your room?" I asked.

Reneasia glanced at the blueprint of the opera house, and then pointed to an area away from the chapel.

"Right there…" she said. "It's near the prop room….my mother and I live there…"

My fingers traced over a path that would lead us there, and once it was memorized inside my head, I put away the map, and got a hold of my father.

"Help me…" I said, trying to lift his half conscious body to his feet.

Reneasia grabbed hold of him, and we began descending down the dark path. The screams that had once been, were no more, and from the water, there was nothing left but hats and pitch forks floating atop of it…..My father's traps had done their job. At one point in the path, I glanced up, and saw the trap door I had been looking for. I clung onto it, and opened it up to find that we were in a small room…

"This is where I live…" said Reneasia.

She lead me over to a small bed, where we laid my father down, and Reneasia went to fetch her mother…..She went through a red drape, and I could hear the sound of her talking to a woman….Moments later, Reneasia emerged with a woman who looked just like her, just twice her age. She had long black hair, and blue eyes…..She was also dressed in a night gown, and looked as if she had been sleeping.

When she saw my father laying there, her hand clutched over her mouth….

"The Phantom of the Opera…"

Her eyes darted to Reneasia.

"Where did you find him?" she asked, her voice full of terror.

"Some men beat him up…..that's his son, Gustave."

The woman placed a candle down at my father's bedside to give her enough light to examine him.

"I'm going to have to call the police…..he is a wanted man."

I wasn't going to allow this to happen! If my father was taken away, what was to become of me? He was all I had left. I snatched the woman's hand from touching him, and pulled her away.

"No! he's my father!"

"Where is your mother, young man?" she asked, her voice strict and angry.

"Dead! She died, he's all I have left. If you're not going to help him, then let us leave!"

"I didn't say I wasn't going to help him….now let me work before he dies…."

I stood there at my father's side just incase the woman tried to pull anything that would harm him. She removed his shirt, and gasped at the gashes the men had made with objects along with a pitchfork…

"This doesn't look good…." she replied. "I will have to stitch him…"

Reneasia brought her mother a basin filled with water, and I watched as she cleaned his wounds softy, and pulled a strand of dark hair from her head and began to thread a needle with it…..Afterwards, she stitched him up, her eyes glaring at all the other healed scars that covered him…..

"It's hard to say whether he'll be alive by morning…" she said, dressing up his wounds. "But for now, he is asleep…."

"Thanks, we'll be leaving now…" I said, ready to get my father up.

"What are you doing? You'll kill him! He needs to lay still…."

"So what? You can call the police on him? No…..I'm taking my father and leaving here…"

Reneasia grabbed my arm to calm me down, as her mother knelt down to my side.

"You are a very brave boy, Gustave…But now you must rest. Do it for your father's sake…."

I managed to calm down, and realized that her mother was right…..moving my father was not a good idea.

"You'll sleep here tonight." she said, pulling a pillow and a few blankets out of a closet. She placed them down in the floor beside Reneasia's bed, and I was calm enough to lay down.

"Tomorrow we shall discuss what is to become of your father…."

"What is your name?" I asked.

The woman walked over to the drape, and just before bidding me goodnight, she said "Mirela."

For a while, I watched my father in the candlelight….he seemed so peaceful, yet almost dead…I hoped he would be alright though, and after a while, I took out the letters I had snatched from Raoul's room, and untied the black ribbon that was wrapped around them. From her bed, Reneasia looked over at me, and I could see her laying there awake watching every move I made.

"What are you doing?" she asked, her voice a whisper.

"Looking at the letters…"

"Read one…" she said.

"They're not mine, they're my father's."

"I helped you get them, and I practically died trying. Just read the first one….."

I sighed, and knew that my father probably wouldn't mind. I took the first one in my hand, to see that his name was written in the center of it. I flipped over the envelope, and pealed away the flap, and pulled out the folded letter that was inside it.

"Read it…" begged Reneasia.

And so I did.

"_February 1__st__ 1871_

_Erik,_

_There's not a day that goes by that I don't regret not meeting you at the inn on time. You do not understand the agony I must live with knowing that I had broken your fragile heart. I beg of you to write me back, and just let me know if you are still alive…..You once said that you didn't know how long you were going to live without me, but I have better news….You shall forever live on, for I have found that I am with child, your child….. Please believe me when I say that I am happy about it. Please do not be sorry for what you have done to me…..Please do not fret over the possible fact that this child might look like you. I can assure you that what ever it looks like, it shall be loved dearly by me. I have never slept with Raoul, this I assure you…. I know what happens on a wedding night, but Raoul and I have been together for almost a month now, and never had I ever given myself to him. I had even began pretending to be sick in order to prolong that horrible thing that is eventually to come…I know I cannot continue to deny him what I had given you, but the thought of throwing away what we had just makes me ill. _

_What I wouldn't give to make love to you again….just you forever and always. But it was last week, when I ran to the bathroom for the first time, sick in the stomach. I wasn't sure why, and just thought I had the flu, but when I went to the doctors, I found it to be something much greater. Such happiness flows through my body when I think about having your child….I didn't tell Raoul yet…how could I? If I did, he would know right away who the father is. I know in the next few weeks I shall have to surrender to his body in order to be able to protect this child that I bear. If I make love to Raoul, I know there will be no questions asked when I tell him that I am with child….. Your seed is alive within me, Erik….I want nothing more than for you to be here for this child's birth….I want you to be the first to hold this child within your arms. I would do anything in my power to find you, and when I find you, I would do nothing more than apologize for all the pain I had caused you. _

_Where are you now in this world? Are you happy? I'm not…. Day after day as this child grows within me, all I can think about are the what if's? What and if are two of the most horrible words that anyone could ever have come up with. Alone it is fine, but when you put what and if together, you get what if? What if I would have been on time that night? What if we were now living together? What if I married you? These are the things I think about every night, and those dreams only become worse and worse for me…..Do you hear me, Erik? Do you realize that you are going to be a father to my child? Do you realize that night of sweet passionate love making had turned out to be something more…That night we were not just consuming ourselves in love, we were creating a child…..Erik, if you're out there, please, please know that I love you…. And if you can ever forgive me, please return within the next eight months….Your child depends on it. I must go now, my love….I shall be forever more waiting for a letter, a letter from you…._

_Christine…"_

When I stopped reading, Reneasia sighed.

"That was beautiful….."

"I never knew that my mother wrote these letters to my father….."

"She really did love him…read another."

I placed the letters back together, and bound them with the ribbon.

"Please read another….Just one more.."

I sighed, and pulled out the second letter from the bound, and began reading that one.

"_March 2__nd__ 1871_

_Erik,_

_It's been an entire month since the last time I had written a letter to you. So many things have happened in that month…A few weeks ago, I finally gave myself to Raoul, and believe me when I say that it was the most horrible experience of my life. He was nothing like you… Your touch sent my body quivering in such ecstasy, but his however, felt meaningless and awkward. Even as he made love to me, it felt nothing like the way it did when I was with you…..Even when we finished, it was nothing like our finish. Remember the first time we finished, Erik? You were leaning over me, you bare chest heaving against mine….and you cried….Your eyes were soaked with tears, tears that dripped onto me…You had this wonderful smile on your face, a smile that seemed as if I had given you the most wonderful thing in the world…..It was so beautiful, Erik. And then you pulled my body closer to yours, and you sobbed into my hair…Oh, it was perfect…It made me so happy that I cried too. And then do you remember what happened? I kissed away your tears, and we made love again…..When Raoul and I finished, he did nothing more than roll over and go to sleep….. We didn't talk, we didn't smile at one another…Oh, Erik, remember when we finished for the last time? I laid there within your arms, and we talked….we talked about so many things, even the future…. Raoul is nothing like you! He doesn't sing me to sleep, he doesn't hold me in his arms, and he leaves me alone all day long!_

_Never shall I ever put myself in such a situation ever again. I want nothing more than you laying beside me, Erik, and I would replace him with you in a second. I know if you were here, you wouldn't have gone any where further than your music room. I know you would want to be here for me and the growing child…Each day I sit alone in my chair, and play with a developing foot, awaiting the day when I can finally have an actual foot to play with within my fingers. I often wonder if this child will have your feet? Remember when I was laying in your arms, and I rubbed your foot? You told me how wonderful it felt, and then you cried….you cried because a woman was willingly touching you. I want that again, Erik! I want to lay beside you again….I'm sobbing terribly right now, and can no longer write. Please write me, Erik….Please let me know where you are in this world, and if you can ever forgive me…I love you….Oh, Erik….._

_Christine"_

I couldn't believe how much my mother loved my father…This was such a sad letter, and I could no longer look at it. I slipped it back into its rightful spot, and placed the bundle beside me…

"Gustave, another one…Oh, don't stop.."

"No, not tonight…."

"Can you read one a night then? Please?"

"These are my father's….."

Reneasia looked over at my father's body, and then back at me.

"I don't think he's going to be reading them for a long time…..Please, Gustave…Oh, please say you will…."

I sighed, and placed them at my side.

"Alright, one a night, but that's it….."

"Thanks….."

I then closed my eyes, and drifted off to sleep…hoping that my father would make a full recovery very soon…

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**Ok everyone, please review! More to come soon! Ideas are welcome!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey everyone, thanks again for the reviews….Enjoy the chapter.**

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**Gustave's POV**

The next morning I awoke and the first thing I did was check on my father…He looked ill and very bad. I dabbed his sweaty head with a towel, and covered him up so he could rest. I then picked up my letters, and left quietly…..I had to pray. I knew if there was anyone that could help, it was my mother…..I guessed her to be an angel looking down upon us from above…..And if she was watching, then my father's life depended on her. I lit her candle, and knelt down…..

"Mother, if you're watching down on us, please help father. He's so sick, and needs you more than ever. Please give him the strength to get through this…Without him, I'm lost. He's all I have left…."

I couldn't help but shed a few tears over this…..My mother was dead, and my father was dying. Where was I going to go if he died? Where was I going to live? Who was I going to have to look out for me?

"Gustave?"

I turned around at the sound of the familiar voice to see Reneasia standing behind me.

"Why are you crying?" she asked.

"I'm not crying….." I growled.

"Your father is going to be fine…"

"And how do you know?" I sobbed. "You don't know how I feel. Do you think I have family other than him? I'm alone, and without him, I'm an orphan….."

"Gustave, he'll be fine…."

"Just leave me alone…"

I was being mean, but I didn't care. All I wanted was my father to be alright…..and at the moment he was the total opposite.

"Gustave, perhaps reading another letter will sooth your mind."

I grabbed the letters, and hid them from her.

"Just leave me alone…"

"Come on, Gustave, read a few more….please… It will take your mind off your father."

"I highly doubt that, but if you say they will, then I shall read….."

Reneasia knelt down beside me as I opened the third letter, and began to read….

_March 15__th__ 1871_

_Erik,_

_Oh, my love….This morning, I had the most wonderful thing happen to me. Our child kicked….can you believe it? For the first time since I found out I was pregnant, I have proof that this child is alive within me. It kicked! It made me so happy. I rubbed the little developing foot inside me, and smiled…. I don't see much of Raoul these days. It doesn't make me sad either. Most times he's out of town for days on business, and I often think about you…..If you were here, I could sneak you in, and make sweet passionate love to you…And afterwards, I could run away, run away and marry you. I have begun thinking about names to name our child, but the only name that comes to mind is yours….. How I would love to name my child after you, Erik, but then it would blow everything I had done so far to protect it. _

_What do you think is a suitable name for our child? I would love to pick a name of your choosing…..Nothing would make me happier than to name a child something your beautiful mind has chosen. If you're out there, Erik….please, please write me…. I want you more than anything, and would go to the ends of the earth to get you back. I want to hold you in my arms, and kiss your beautiful deformed lips…Once again, I find myself sobbing over this letter, and can no longer write….Oh, Erik, give me the strength to live on without you…_

_Christine…"_

The letter was short, but after I finished it, I did feel a little better.

"Your mother writes so beautifully…" replied Reneasia watching me place the letter back into the envelope.

"I know…..and I miss her."

"Gustave, could you read another one?"

"These are my father's….I shouldn't even have read what I did."

The girl begged me to read another, and since they were clearing my mind, I decided that it wouldn't be such a bad idea….Only, when I pulled out this letter, there were many pages attached to it…..I could only wonder why this one was so long?

"_April 1__st__ 1870_

_Erik, _

_I was laying in my bed just last night, and the most amazing thing happened to me…You returned! I'll never forget the terrible weather that night, and how my child would not stop kicking and squirming within me…..I lay there trying to calm down our child, as the pouring rain pounded against my roof…..And then, as the lightning flashed, I saw this dark figure standing on my bedroom balcony hunched over as if something were wrong. I was afraid, but something inside told me not to be. I swung my feet over the side of the four poster bed, and approached the balcony window, rubbing the small bump I had in my stomach…. When I made it to the window, lightning flashed once again, and the dark figure became you….I gasped, and believed it to be a dream, but it wasn't…..You were here, but you didn't seem happy. I quickly opened the door, and pulled you in from the pouring rain….. Only, when I turned on the lights, something didn't seem right…Your hand was clutching at your side, as if something were terribly wrong. _

_Your face looked as if you were in agony, and only when I removed your soaking wet hand away from your side did I noticed how badly you were bleeding…..We didn't even say two words to each other as I stripped you down to get you out of those wet clothes….Your body once again came exposed to me, but the body I had once felt within the dark was so badly beaten….You had brand new bruises on your chest, scratches that were covering healing scars, the same scars I had felt the night I made love to you, and in your side was a blade…..It filled my eyes with tears to see you in such a way. I only thanked god that Raoul was away for an entire week on business, and wouldn't be back any time soon…..You refrained yourself from me trying to lay you down in my bed, but I wouldn't have any of it…..I locked my door so that the maids wouldn't come barging in, as I tended to your wounds. You were so sick….your wrist was sprained, and that wound in your side looked lethal….I'll never forget the look upon your face as I stitched your wounds…I finally had my Erik back, and I was the happiest I had ever been. You told me that you had come back to Paris to check on me, when your were mugged. You said that they beat you, and stole your money….._

_After fixing you up, you wanted to leave, but I wouldn't let you….You were too weak, and so I stayed by your side as you slept through the agony of your injuries. It was my secret…It was my secret to keep. If Raoul was here he would have surely called the police or even killed you….but he wasn't…. I had one week, one week before Raoul would come home, one week to get you well, and one week to leave. You walking through my door that night, was saving me….I wouldn't have to be here anymore, and you would be able to see your child being born. The following morning when you woke, I had so much to say but all you wanted to do was rest….I was your nurse, I fed you, cleaned you, and cared for your wounds. I thought about the right time to tell you about my pregnancy, but that time never occurred….. I kept you hidden from the world, my world as you healed from such a beating. It took days to do so, and in those days you hardly said a word….You were ill, and I understood your need for rest. I sat there by the window most of the time, reading a book, and laughing in my head over the fact that you were laying in my bed…..in Raoul's spot! Nothing made me happier! If only Raoul knew that the Phantom of the Opera was laying in his bed….Oh, he'd be angry….. Taking care of you had been the some of the happier days of my life, but then the happiest days came… I remember waking up from a night in the chair, and saw you standing in front of my vanity mirror, replacing your bandages, and dressing…..I knew you were getting ready to leave, but I didn't want you to. When you saw that I was awake, you gave me one last look, before heading to the same way you entered only a few days ago….I couldn't let you…I begged you not to leave just yet. And then you turned to me, and closed the door…..You asked me what I wanted from you, and so I told you the one thing I my heart desired…._

"_Spend the day with me…."_

_You cried….I remember this…You dropped to your knees in front of me like you had when you begged me to marry you…You picked up my skirts, and kissed the hem of it. You acted as if you didn't deserve me…. _

"_Erik would give Christine anything she asked of him…" were the words that poured out of your sobbing mouth. And you did, you spent the day with me…. And even though we couldn't go out for a walk in the garden or go into town, that day was still the best day of my life…..We sat there on my bed, playing chess, and talking about things of the past…. You told me that you went to New York and you were displaying yourself in a freak show. This broke my heart….Especially when you told me that people throw things at you and call you horrid names….. If only they knew, if only they knew what kind of genius you were, what kind of lover you were….No. People only saw you for what you looked like…. I sat there listening to your story, and I hated it….It made me cry, and you stopped in between to wipe away my tears. You told me how you lived in the basement of Madame Giry's row home, and how you slept on an old mattress that made your back ache, and how the draft always made you sick. You explained to me that you caught pneumonia twice in the last three months, and that the last time almost killed you….My life had been nothing compared to the one you had been living, and I wanted to take it all away… I wanted to take every ounce of pain away from you….._

_You were crying so much, that I knew telling you about my child would only upset you even more…..And so I decided to wait. When I could no longer take hearing the story, I leaned in and kissed you….God, how I kissed you. I had been waiting months to do it again, and now I was getting my chance. You backed away, and told me how I shouldn't be doing this, and how terrible it was…..But I didn't care…I wanted you, and I burned for you…..I didn't want to tell you about these letters, or about how much I missed you…No, that was only taking up time, time that I didn't have. I wanted nothing more than to experience what we had before. I silenced you, and soon, our bodies were burning for one another's…I had undressed you, just as you had undressed me….I was waiting for what we had shared before, but things didn't turn out that way. I had thought we made it to the point of no return when our clothes hit the floor, but that wasn't the case. You kissed me, and placed your hand over my bare stomach, only meaning to pull me closer to you, but you felt my child kick…..God, it was such a beautiful thing, Erik…. You felt our child kick, and instead of being happy, you sat up in anger…. You backed away from me like a person infected with the plague._

"_What is that?" you questioned me as if you didn't know what a baby was….. But I couldn't leave things like this. I sat up, and smiled as I brought your hand back over my stomach….._

"_My child, Erik, don't you feel it…."_

_Once more my child kicked, and I could see your eyes burning with anger….. You then pulled away, and began gathering your clothes….._

"_Erik!" I was pleading for you, but you cut in.._

"_No! you expect me to make love to you, you say you love me, and yet you're carrying his child!"_

"_I…I want to name him after his father…" I pleaded, trying to give you hints that the child was yours, but your heart was already broken._

"_If you knew any better, you wouldn't! That man has a horrible name! You should name the child after your own father!"_

_You were angry, and after dressing, you went towards the balcony…._

"_Please don't go….take me with you…" I wanted to go with you, Erik….I wanted to be with you forever more, but I lost you again. I lost you…. You jumped down from the balcony, and I was about to go too, but Raoul walked into our bedroom, and wondered what in the world I was doing….He was back from his trip, and you were gone… _

_In darkness you came again, and in darkness you left…If I weren't carrying a child, I would have jumped down from that balcony, and came running after you…. But I had gotten what I wanted out of you… A name, a name for my baby…. You told me to name it after my father, and so if this child is a boy, at least I have the thing I've wanted…..a name, and what a wonderful name it would be…_

"_Gustave…." A name chosen by you…._

_Christine…"_

By the time I finished the letter, I felt worse than I had before reading it. I shoved the letter back into its rightful place, and got up.

"Where are you going?" asked Reneasia.

"What do you care?" I growled….

I ran away, and found myself up in the rafters above the stage, and watched as the ballerinas practiced. I sat there in amazement watching them for a while, before deciding to go back and check on my father. I took the same path back as I had going, and once I was back at his bedside, I placed the letters out of his sight…..

"Erik….." I placed my hand in his, and lightly squeezed, and to my surprise, he opened his eyes just enough to see me.

"Gus….tave…." His voice was filled with pain, and I knew he had a horrible fever by the heat I was met with on his flesh…

"How do you feel?" I asked.

"Terr…ible…Where are…we?"

"Someplace safe…."

Just then, Mirela came barging in, from behind a drape, and stood before me.

"He has to go, Gustave…." her tone was angry and strict.

"Go where?" I asked.

"Anywhere but here. I cannot risk having him here. He's the number one wanted man in Paris, and who ever helps him will go down to the gallows…You need to get him out of here."

"But he's sick! He can hardly move…."

"Either you get him out of here, or I'll get rid of him for you…."

I gave the woman a dirty look, before helping my father up. He ached in complete agony as he stood up and I held onto him the best I could…..

"I helped him, and now you have to go…"

My father ached with every step he took, and before leaving, I turned around and shook my head at her.

"You helped nothing…You only caused my father more pain. No one can ever see him for the kind man that he is….only for the hideousness of his face….."

And with that, I walked out…. I helped my father back to our lair, and took forever to do because of his condition. Once we were there, I laid him down in his bed, and covered him up, removing his mask to help him breathe easier.

"Is there anything else I can get you?" I asked.

"Some….water…"

I dodged to the kitchen, and went for the sink to get him what he wanted, and came back in a matter of seconds. He looked so ill, and I worried for him because of the draft that was lurking inside the lair. I handed him the water, and he drank away like a parched animal…Afterwards, I tucked him in, and noticed how badly he was shivering.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

His eyes glanced down at me, and he nodded. My poor father looked exhausted, and I only wanted to make him feel better…..but what was I to do? What in the world could I do for him? I didn't have another home to take him to, and I didn't have any money to buy him medicine…..

"Gus…tave…."

"Yes?"

He lifted a weary hand up from his side, and pointed to the wardrobe closet.

"Get…me…another blanket….."

"Are you cold?"

"Very…."

I raced over the wooden chest that was on the other side of the room, and pulled out a black crocheted blanket from one of the shelves. Afterwards, I spread it out over my father's bed, and tucked him in.

"Y…Your mother….made this for…me…"

He twisted the stringy blanket within his fingers, and sighed….

"You…you're such a good…boy….my son….."

And just like that his eyes closed, exhausted from the walk that he had endured…..I wanted to cry, but I knew better than to do so around him….And so I decided to let him rest, and went on to my new project….cleaning up the lair….

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**Ok, please let me know what you think! Thanks!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey everyone, sorry about the few days in between chapters. I'm going camping ths weekend so… I'll be back next week with more chapter….It's summer time, and I am enjoying it. Well, here's the next chapter. Please review! Thanks!**

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**Gustave's POV**

As I cleaned up the lair that I had already cleaned up once before, I became scared. My father was in his room coughing his head off, and I began to fear that he was catching pneumonia. The lair was drafty, and his chest wound was still probably open enough to contract any kind of illness. I had been straightening up the library, when I heard him call for me. I placed down the few books I was cleaning, and walked down the hall and into his bedroom to see him laying there, the handsome side of his face pressed against a pillow, and his deformity glowing within the candle light. His breathing was heavy and un even, and there was a profuse amount of perspiration running down his face.

"Yes?" I asked, approaching his bedside to fix the blankets that were hanging off the side of his bed.

When I was close, I could see that his deformity was dried out, and it had started to bleed…

"Son….could…you get me….." he had to stop in order to catch his breath that was heaving out of him. "a… glass of water…"

I quickly ran to the sink with the empty glass I had filled up before, and refilled it with some more cold water. Afterwards, I reentered the bedroom to find him heaving into a chamber pot that was on the floor…..It was official, my father was sick…. After throwing up, he laid back down, and I handed him the glass of water as he gasped for air….He only took a few sips out of it before placing it aside, and pressing the handsome side of his face back down into the pillow.

"Your face…" I began. "It looks irritated."

"Indeed it is…..I…I need to keep my mask off so I can breathe easier, but…..the air dries it out…"

My father pressed his eyes closed, and I grabbed a basin from his bureau and filled it up with warm soapy water before placing it down on his nightstand, and began running a cloth full of the substance all over each crevice of his deformity…He ached in pain as I did so, but what was I to do? My mother was supposed to be the one here caring for him, and now I had to do it.

"Does that feel better?" I asked him.

"Yes, thank you….." he murmured from a painful cough…. "You're almost as good as your mother was…."

"What do you mean?"

My father twisted his fingers around the yarn of the blanket my mother had made him, and coughed once more before continuing.

"My face…..it often became dry during the summer….Your mother…she used to do this for me."

I ran the wet cloth up around his exposed skull, and gently cleaned around his veins and arteries that wrapped around it….

"Do you have any medicine?" I asked. "To soothe your cough…"

"No…." was his reply before a violent cough overtook his body…. It sounded horrible, a deep raspy sound from inside his lungs…

"Maybe I could get some for you…." I suggested.

"I'll….I'll be fine…Just let me….sleep."

"Do you need anything else?" I asked, placing the cloth back into the basin.

"No…..I'm fine…"

I decided to leave my father in peace, and continue cleaning up the lair. I closed his door to enable any noise from disturbing his sleep, and went back to the library….Only before I could reach it, there came a knock at the door. It frightened me to think that perhaps Raoul's men where back for round two, but I stayed brave, and approached the door. When I peeked through the tiny peep hole, I had expected to see someone I didn't like, but instead, I saw Reneasia and her mother. I couldn't figure out how they had got down here, but I opened the door only enough to speak to them.

"What do you want?" I asked. "Can't you see that I'm busy caring for my sick father?"

"Gustave, I have come to help…" replied Mirela holding up a basket.

"I don't want your help….Because of you, my father has pneumonia."

"I brought you some food and supplies. It's not that I don't want to help, it's just that I can't have him living in my room…."

"Leave it on the doorstep and leave…"

Were the last words I said before slamming the door in their faces. I wouldn't stand for such a thing…This woman had threatened to call the police on my father, then she kicks him out of her nice warm room…..And as for Reneasia, she was just as bad as her mother. I waited a while, before opening the door again…. When I did however, I noticed the woven basket sitting where I had asked Mirela to place it. As I went for it however, Reneasia popped out of no where.

"Hi, Gustave…."

I didn't answer her, and grabbed the basket before making my way back inside…..I wasn't sure where her mother was, and at the moment I didn't care…But she followed me like a lost puppy, making her way into the lair with me. Though, I turned around before making it all the way inside, and let out my anger, making sure to keep my voice down so I wouldn't disturb my father.

"What do you want?"

"I came to help…."

"Where's your mother?"

"She went back up to do her chores. I thought I'd come down here and help you."

"There isn't anything to help. You've done enough damage…"

She cowered at my anger, and looked at me with a pair of sad eyes.

"Oh, Gustave, please let me stay and help you for a while…I promise not to get in the way."

I would have turned the girl away, but I did need help cleaning up the remainder of the lair…And it would help to have someone around to keep me company while my father was ill.

"Ok, but just be quiet….My father is sleeping…"

I let her pass me, and I quietly closed the door. Afterwards, I placed the basket down on the kitchen counter, and opened it to find a loaf of bread, a glass bottle filled up with some sort of pink liquid, and a container of milk.

"My mother thought you should mix the bread and milk together and feed it to your father. The afterwards, give him a swig of that pink stuff. Mother said it would help him loosen the mucus in his lungs."

"Thanks…" I replied, going back to cleaning up the lair.

"Can I help?" she asked.

"Sure, just keep your hands off my father's things…."

I knelt down, and began to clean up some glass from the floor, as Reneasia helped me.

"Mother signed me up to dance in the opera…."

I glanced up at her, and then back down to the floor…..never giving her a reply, which upset her.

"What? What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing…" I lied. "It's just…"

"It's just what?"

"You're too short….."

"I am not!"

"Keep your voice down…." I growled. "My father is trying to sleep."

"I am not short…." she continued, in a lower tone of voice.

"Yes, you are….your legs are short. If you expect to be a good dancer you'll stay out of the other's way…."

"Why?"

"Because you'll stumble and fall over the other ballerinas…."

"And how do you know that?"

"It's just in me…..I'm my father's son I guess….."

I finished cleaning up, and took a seat on the couch in my father's sitting area to rest. Reneasia sat down beside me, and I took the stack of my mother's letters.

"Does this mean you're going to read one to me?" she asked.

"Why is it that you always want me to read them to you? They're my mother's….."

"Because I like hearing them….."

"I'm just wondering…."

"About what?"

"Well Raoul came looking for my mother's will. I just wonder why? Why would he want my mother's will? Everything went to him anyway when my mother passed…."

"Maybe there was something else….something only your mother had control over, and your old father wants it…"

"But I'm not even sure my mother even had a will….and why would Raoul think that my father had it?"

"Maybe you should just go talk to Raoul….."

I opened the next letter that my mother had in the stack, and looked over to see Reneasia waiting for me to read it.

"I'm not reading it out loud."

"Oh, Please, Gustave….."

Why was it that I could never just stick to my word when I was around her? Why was it that her pleading voice possessed a power strong enough to change my mind? Did I love her? I didn't think so…..but then again, how did my father feel about my mother when she used to come down here? Did he love her then?

"Fine, one letter, but that's it. Besides, I should be getting you home. I need to care for my father, and if he found out you were here, he'd get awfully angry."

"Deal…."

I sighed, and began reading the letter.

"_May 2nd__ 1871_

_Erik,_

_I know it has been a long time since the last letter, but it had to be this way. I have been sick….very sick. For weeks I have been bed ridden, and I can no longer feel our child kicking. I fear that something may be horribly wrong, and I pray every night that it's just my imagination. The doctor has been here time and time again, checking me and the baby out, but he swears that nothing is wrong. Oh, Erik, what if there is? What if something is terribly wrong with my child? What if it has died within me? Oh, please don't let this happen….. This child is all I have left of you. I know if you were here, you wouldn't leave my side…you would wait on me hand and foot….Raoul has done nothing to help the situation, and has even left the country for business even when he knows how sick I am. He told me to get well, and left without a single kiss goodbye… I often dread that he knows about my love for you….We have not made love since the first time we did it….It's as if I had disappointed him. I'm glad none the less….As I've said before, he's nothing like you ever were in bed. And even though I would love this child no matter what it looks like, I still fear for it…..I would love this child even if it's given a face like yours, but if it does so happen to turn out that way, what of Raoul? Surely he would know that you are the father….And even though you're not here with me, my love, I still know that you would be the most wonderful father in the world…..I feel sick and must rest…_

_Until we meet again_

_Christine…"_

When it ended, I placed the letter inside the envelope it came out of, and stuck it back into the pile.

"Oh, Gustave, that was a short letter…..please read one more…"

"Reneasia!" I growled. "I thought we had a deal?"

"Pleaseeeeee…"

Why? Why couldn't I ever just keep to my word? Why? I tried not to look at her as I took out another letter, and waved it in front of her face.

"This is the last one, Reneasia, and before I read it I want to hear you say to me that it's the last one for tonight…."

"Yes, Gustave…." she began. "It's the last letter for tonight…"

"Promise?"

"I promise…" she assured.

"_June 15__th__ 1871_

_Erik,_

_I am feeling much better now. And you, you're such a wonderful man. I am five months along, and just last week I began to feel the child's kicks again. It made me so happy, but I am writing this letter to thank you. I don't know how you knew about it, but you did….I had my baby shower just yesterday, and had a few of Raoul's relatives over. They brought gifts and toys for the child's room…I never really liked Raoul's relatives to begin with, and found myself tired out by the late afternoon. I told Raoul I was going to go up to the bedroom and rest, and that's exactly what I did…. Only when I arrived, there was something strange placed over near my bed with a blanket thrown over it…. I cautiously approached it, and lifted the blanket to find a beautiful handmade crib, hand crafted from wood, with the most beautiful design I had ever seen engraved into each railing. Attached to the inside of the crib was a string with little silver bells tied to it…..it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I thought Raoul had bought it as a surprise gift, but the letter I found laying inside it said otherwise._

"_Christine,_

_Please forgive my actions from a few months ago. I was such a fool to run away from you like I did. I was jealous….jealous that you were carrying another man's child. After running away from you, I returned home to New York. It took some weeks after that to recover from my injuries, but because of you I am well and back on my feet. I once again found myself displaying my face in the same freak show I had told you about, and carried on with my life. Two weeks ago, I returned to Paris on some business, and found it hard not to pay you a visit, even if it was only making sure you were happy from watching you carry on about your day. How beautiful you look, my angel….Being pregnant brightens your beauty, and makes your smile shine brighter than before. I see how you play with your stomach, and rub your child's foot from inside you. How badly I wanted to come out and talk to you, but you were happy…And who am I to take it away? I wanted to do something for you to show you how sorry I am for acting like I had. And I desperately hope this crib that stands before you will do the trick. I spent days carving it with my bare hands, and believe me when I say that my hands are definitely feeling it… The bells however are just something I added to keep the child occupied. Once when I was an infant, my mother's friend hung a string of bells just like the one I had given you over my crib…It kept me occupied during those long lonely days that I spent there. I want nothing but the best for you, my love…and I can see you're completely happy with your life…I must go now. But I know we shall meet again soon…_

_Always and forever_

_Erik…."_

_Oh, Erik….You believed me to be happy, when I was only happy about our child. I hate Raoul…. He has done nothing to help me through this pregnancy. You were so sweet to make me this crib…and yet you believe this child isn't even yours….You made this for me, just because you wanted to see me happy. Oh, Erik….How wonderful you are. I shall cherish this crib always and forever….If only you were here to lay our child down inside it. I'm due in October, my love…..and I only hope you are here for the delivery…..It be such a beautiful thing, my love…..but I know that is only a wish. I would send you letters, but I don't even know where to send them…..Erik, I love you more than anything in the world….please return to me…._

_Christine…"_

I remember that crib…..even when I grew older, my mother always kept it out in another room. I often wondered if perhaps she was planning on having another child, hence being the reason why she kept it out, but that wasn't the case. Oh, I remember Raoul and her fighting several times over him wanting to throw it out or sell it off to a pawn shop….But my mother forbid it, and guarded it with her life…..and now I knew why. My father had built it with his own hands, and gave it to my mother for me…If my father gave my mother presents to give to me as a baby, then I could only wonder what other things he could have given to me over the years without me even knowing? I guess I would have to read more letters to find out, but not tonight…..No, it was time for Reneasia to go home so I could tuck my father in bed and get some rest myself.

"Come on, Reneasia, lets get you home." I replied, placing the stack of letters aside.

Before leaving the lair, I checked on my father to make sure he was alright. He was, and I was glad to find him still asleep. I walked Reneasia back to the chapel, and stood there with her for a few moments before deciding to head back.

"Tomorrow is my first rehearsal." she stated. "It would make me happy if you came."

"You want me to come to your rehearsal?"

She nodded.

"What time?"

"It starts at eleven."

"I don't know….I ah….My father needs me…."

"Oh, please, Gustave…Please say you'll go…"

"Alright…..I'll come."

Her arms flew around me, and she pulled me ever so close to her.

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you…."

"Right…..could you….um…let go now?"

She slowly backed away, and smiled, embarrassed about what she had done.

"Ok, I need to go." I said. "I'll be there tomorrow…."

"Goodnight, Gustave. I hope your father gets better soon…."

I thanked the girl one last time, before walking back to the lair. Once I was there, I mixed the bread and milk together, and carried that and the pink liquid filled bottle back to my father's room. I touched his shoulder to get him to wake, and I noticed that his fever had gotten worse. This frightened me, but I didn't let it show.

"I have some food for you…" I said. "It's going to make you feel better."

"I'm not….hungry…" he groaned, and closed his eyes….

"You need to keep your strength up, Erik…..Come on…"

I held a spoonful of the food up to his mouth, but he wouldn't eat it.

"I'm not leaving until you eat…You need to eat this so I can give you some medicine…"

It took a while, but finally, he opened his mouth and accepted the food. He only ate a little bit, but I was just glad I had gotten him to eat. Afterwards, I opened the bottle up, and placed it to his lips to get him to take a swig of the medicine. He coughed when the horrible taste hit his tongue, but if Reneasia said it was going to make him feel better, then I was willing to test it out on him…Realizing that my father was still exhausted, I tucked him back in, and bid him goodnight before walking to my own room and plopping down on my bed…exhausted from such a busy day…

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**Please Please Please review! I'll be back after the weekend with more chapters! And please if you haven't already, check out my Phantom Royale story. It's the Phantom in modern day version….but it's not a modern day one that you're probably used to reading and hating. Thanks! **


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey everyone thanks again for the reviews! Sorry again, been camping, Back home now...Please review!

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**Gustave's POV**

The following morning, I awoke in my bed, and sat up to rub the sleep out of my eye. The lair was silent, and the first thing I did was check on my father. His condition had worsened over night, and his fever had risen. I placed a cold compress over his head, and fixed the covers on his bed…..I knew it was the draft in his room. I knew the cold draft was keeping him from getting better….But what could I do? Where could we go? But the thing that made me fear most, was when I noticed red splotches all over the white bandage that was wrapped around his chest. I knew his wound was bleeding again, which wasn't good… My father, my only living relative was dying….. I touched his hand, but he didn't even open his eyes…His skin was deathly pale, and his deformity was red and irritated….. What could I do? I couldn't do anything…..And what of Raoul? What if he came looking for him? I knew the only thing to save my father was going to be to move him someplace else…but where? Where could I move him to? Raoul's estate? Could I possible risk him killing my father?

I wasn't sure, but I knew if I didn't do something soon, he was going to die….. After tucking him in bed, I placed on my cloak, and walked up to the world above….. I would have passed on seeing Reneasia's rehearsal, but I had promised her. I snuck into the rafters high above the stage, and glanced down at all the girls dressed in their tutus and ballet shoes. Reneasia was the shortest of them all, and stayed close to the back. They were doing their stretches, awaiting their teacher to come on stage and tell them what to do. Only when the teacher appeared, I couldn't help but find the woman familiar. There was something about the way she dressed and the strong French accent she held that made her stand out…..But when she whipped out a long black walking stick, I knew exactly who she was…. Madame Giry! I hardly knew the woman, but back in New York, I had found her arguing one afternoon with Raoul…. She was there when my mother died, and she came to check on my father…..Yes! She was my savior…I knew if I could talk to her, she would surely help my father….

She began to order the girls around, and they danced in sync….everyone except for Reneasia… She couldn't stay in line, and began to bump into the other girls….. When this happened, Madame Giry stopped them to yell at her…. I rolled my eyes, for I told the girl to stay away from the other dancers yet she was still bumping into them. I watched this for a long time and when practice was over, I decided to go to the chapel to await her arrival….. Only when I got there, I found a bunch of other girls picking on her…They surrounded her as she cowered….. I stayed hidden in the wall I came through, and watched them go on…

"You should just give up…" teased one of them.

"Yeah, you're too short, gypsy girl…"

People were so cruel….. I couldn't let them carry on like this. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't show myself to them because I would get in trouble and be discovered. I thought for a few moments, and came up with a wonderful idea….. My father had once been known as the opera ghost….so why couldn't I be a ghost as well? If I was my father's son, then surely I had a voice high enough to scare a few girls… And as I spoke, my voice echoed off the walls.

"Fools!"

As soon as my voice echoed, I had the girl's attention. They gasped, and began glancing around…..

"That's right…" I howled. "Pay attention…."

"Who….who is this?" questioned one of the girls in a frightened voice.

"Who am I?" I growled. "Who am I? I am the Opera Ghost! And I despise seeing little girls getting picked on…I have enough power to come get you in your sleep! I'll rip you all limb from limb!"

The girls screamed, and begged me not to…and that they would leave Reneasia alone….

"Good, now get out! Before I change my mind!"

Everyone of them except Reneasia scrambled out of the chapel. When the coast was clear, I came out from hiding, and giggled….. Reneasia seemed frightened, but as soon as she saw me, she jumped into my arms.

"Oh, thank you, Gustave….."

"Please, don't thank me….. I just hate people being cruel to others. I know how my father feels when it happens to him."

Reneasia bowed her head in embracement, and began to cry.

"You were right….I can't dance…."

"It's not that you can't…" I said. "You just need practice."

"You really think so?"

"I know so…."

"Do you think you could teach me?" she asked.

No…. I wasn't going to teach this girl… I couldn't… I wouldn't… But her face… Oh, her face was pleading me to teach her, and I could never say no, not to her.

"I'll…I'll think about it…"

She jumped into my arms again, and thanked me as if I had already said yes…..

"Reneasia….Please, enough with the hugging…"

She giggled, and backed off.

"Oh, sorry….how's your father?"

My father! Oh, no…. I had to find Madame Giry.

"I have to find Madame Giry…"

"Why?"

"Because she knows my father…."

"Let me help you…"

Reneasia pulled my arm, and I followed her through the dark hallways towards and office…. Only when we arrived there, I could hear a familiar voice talking to her…A man's voice…Raoul's voice. I snuck close to the door with Reneasia at my side, and peeked in to see Madame Giry sitting at her vanity with Raoul standing over her.

"Where is he?" he demanded. "I need to find the monster! He has something I want!"

"Why can't you leave him alone?" she questioned in an angered tone. "Haven't you two battled it out enough! I don't even know where he is! I haven't seen nor heard from Erik ever since Christine died!"

"Erik….Yes, of course… Give the monster a name."

"He is not a monster! You're the monster….."

"And how could my son want to be around him? How could my own flesh and blood want to live with him?"

Madame Giry stood to her feet, and crossed her arms.

"Monsieur, your wife made love to Erik….You disappointed her and she went back to him…..Erik is a man.. A man who never felt the joys of the flesh…what do you think was going to happen!"

"Enough!"

"No. You need to put the past in the past…..And as much as you want Gustave to be yours, it's never going to happen. She had his child, and left the child in his care when she passed….."

"I want her will! I want it!"

"Why?"

"Because she has something on there that belongs to me! And I want to make sure she left it to me….and I want to know where it is…."

"Christine never spoke of a will…"

Raoul growled in anger before turning away…

"If you see the boy, tell him I want to see him! Tell him that his abandoned father is looking for him!"

Raoul marched out of the office without even seeing me there…. I only thanked God for that. When the coast was clear, I entered with Reneasia at my side. Madam Giry's eyes widened when she spotted me…

"Gustave? Reneasia? What are you two doing here?"

"I need to talk to you, Madame…."

"You shouldn't be here…..Raoul is looking for you…"

"I need to talk to you….."

Madame Giry looked around, and then back at me.

"Where's your father?"

"That's what I need to talk to you about…..he's very sick…."

Madame Giry placed her hand over her mouth, and then stood to her feet.

"Take me to him…"

"He's down in the lair…."

"Come along then, I'll lead the way…" she replied.

It seemed as though Madame Giry had her own way down, for in her office, there was a small door beside the wall, and when she opened it, there was a dark path that lead down below the opera house. She lit a lantern, and we both followed her down to the lair…When we arrived, she went straight to my father's room, and didn't hesitate on placing her hand on his forehead.

"He's got a very high fever….." her eyes darted down to the bandage across his chest, and she gasped.

"Oh, my…..what happened to him?"

"Raoul sent some men down here to trash the lair and kill my father. They ran him through with a pitchfork…."

A violent cough then took control of my father and Madame Giry gasped once again.

"He has pneumonia."

"Please help him…." I cried. "He's dying…"

"We have to get him someplace warm…the draft is worsening his condition."

"What can I do?"

"Get him a blanket…."

I ran to the wardrobe closet, and grabbed a large blanket before rushing back over to give it to Madame Giry. She sat his shivering body up into a sitting position, and wrapped the blanket around him…..

"We're going to move him to my home….it's warmer there. But we have to keep him covered while moving him."

I helped Madame Giry lift my father up and walk through the lair. Madame Giry hailed a carriage, and we sat him inside, keeping him warm….. My father's whole body was trembling, but Madame Giry continued to rub his arms to keep him warm. The journey was short, and Meg was waiting for us when we arrived. She seemed just as surprised to see him as I was to see her. I had thought for sure that she would have gone to jail for what she did…..I didn't say a word to her as we moved my father inside the home. Madame Giry took him to a room down the hall from the kitchen, and laid him down in the small bed.

"I'll make him something warm to drink…" said Meg rushing out of the room.

"What is she doing here?" I snapped.

"She was released…."

"I know she's your daughter, Madame, but she still doesn't deserve to be out and about when she's the cause of my mother's death…."

"You know as good as me, Gustave…. My daughter didn't mean to do what she did…"

"Well saying this won't change the past now will it? My mother is still dead and isn't coming back…."

"Well then, help me before your father dies as well…."

Madame Giry opened his bandage as Reneasia and myself stood beside her. She cleaned up the blood that was seeping out of his chest, and re-bandaged his chest for him. Afterwards, Meg returned with a steaming hot cup of liquid. Madame Giry held my father up, while Meg forced him to drink it…..

"He'll be fine once he rests…You can stay here too…" replied Madame Giry.

"Thanks….I'm going to walk Reneasia back to the opera house…."

"Go ahead…"

I gave Meg a dirty look, before walking out with Reneasia at my side.

"Why do you hate her so?" she asked as we began walking back.

"You heard me didn't you?" I asked.

"Only a little…."

"That woman killed my mother….."

"Why?"

"Because she was jealous over all the attention my father was giving my mother….."

"I'm sorry, Gustave….."

"It's ok…..nothing is ever going to change the past."

When we arrived there, Reneasia's mother was there waiting for her…..

"Where have you been?" she asked angrily.

"I was with Gustave….we moved his father…."

"Yeah, no thanks to you…" I replied.

"Don't you speak to me that way, young man…."

"Sorry…." I said sarcastically.

With that, I walked out. The woman had stitched my father up and left him to die….. She didn't deserve the time of day….. When I arrived back at Madame Giry's house, I checked on my father to find him sleeping peacefully….. Satisfied, I laid down on the floor, and took out my mother's letters…. I knew my father couldn't hear me, but I thought that perhaps reading to him would cure his illness quicker. I took out the next letter, and began reading it to him.

_November 1__st__ 1871_

_Erik,_

_I know it's been four months since I have written you, but things have been anything but well. You don't know how many months I prayed for you to come to me…..to see our child being born….and just like in my prayers, you did. I'll never forget how it happened…..Raoul had gone on a business trip, and left me heavily pregnant and alone…. Alone with only one maid….. I was nine months pregnant, and alone…. I awoke from a nap on the afternoon of October 31__st__; Halloween. Something didn't feel quite right, and so I got to my feet, and began walking to the door. I used the bedroom door for support as I yelled down the stairs for the maid….but she didn't come….. Now that I remember it, I don't even think she was in the house at all….. When I didn't get a reply, I began walking down the staircase, holding my stomach with one hand, and carefully taking small steps with the other…But then, I tripped…..Oh god, Erik, I tripped…. I fell down the stairs, and landed on my back…..I was in pure agony, but fine none the less…. But something felt weird….. Something didn't feel right. When I looked down, I noticed something dripping down my legs… and in the center of the floor, there was a puddle of water…. It happened, Erik! My water had broke. I couldn't get up…I couldn't even move….It was horrible…. _

_But what was supposed to become my worst nightmare turned out to be one of the best things that's ever happened to me. I laid there for the longest of times, my body aching in the worst agony it had ever felt. And then something happened…From above the staircase, you appeared… It was like a dream. You were draped in your familiar black cloak, and white mask. I had believed this all to be a dream, but it wasn't…. You came running down the stairs as if I were dying, and scooped me up into your strong arms. I snuggled my head into your shoulders as you carried my body back up the stairs, and laid me down in bed. You were like my angel, my savoir….You saved both mine and our child's life that day…_

"_Where is your doctor?" you asked me…..looking over my body._

_I shrugged my shoulders. I had no idea who was to deliver this child…..I thought Raoul would have taken care of that. _

"_Where is your husband?" you then asked._

_Once more, I shrugged my shoulders. How was I supposed to know…..He was on business some where out of the country and wouldn't be returning until the following day. _

"_Is there anyone I can get?" you asked._

_There wasn't, and I shook my head…. I had expected you to leave, but you didn't… You stayed by my side, and held my hand as each contraction came and went. You never left my side….Hour after hour came and went, and you were still there beside me. I wasn't sure what was going to happen, but I knew I was going to be safe around you…. I couldn't speak… How could I? I was in such agony…. As the hours continued to pass, you remained there and then you did the most beautiful thing in the world….. You rose to your feet, and walked down to the end of my bed and decided to deliver my child…_

_You took off your cloak, and laid it aside and reached in between my legs….. I was so afraid, but with you there, my fear faded away. When you told me to push, I pushed. When you told me to breathe, I breathed…..It was a beautiful birth. Your grasp on my child was ever so gentle, and you took him by the shoulders and pulled him out of me…. I lay there in dire agony, breathing heavily and soaked in sweat….but Erik, when I heard our child cry for the first time, I cried….and so did you. I watched as you swaddled our son up in your cloak, and looked down at him….You smiled at first, and then cried…. You handed him to me, and placed a kiss on my forehead._

"_It's a boy…" you said….._

_When I looked down at our son and his beautiful golden hair, I sobbed. I had been afraid that he would be born with your deformity, but he wasn't…he was beautiful. Oh Erik, you created such a beautiful child. There was nothing ugly about him, and I couldn't stop crying…. _

"_He's so beautiful…" you sobbed. "Erik could never create something so beautiful…."_

_I smiled, and placed my hand over your mask….._

"_But you can….." I told you…_

_You clasped your chest, and dropped to your knees. Oh, Erik. I would have told you…. I would have told you about the beautiful flawless child you created, but I knew it would have killed you…your heart was just so weak... Just me saying that you could create a beautiful child made you ill… _

"_Stay with me…." I begged._

_You sat at my bedside, and kissed my forehead. I sat there beside you holding our child while you told me about how you came to see if the baby was born yet and found me in the stairwell… I was so tired from the birth that I simply couldn't stay awake any longer….and then my dream came true…. You took my little Gustave out of my hands and placed him into his crib…your crib…the one you had made me. This made me cry….It was so beautiful. And then you came back to me and laid down beside me…..I fell asleep with your arm wrapped gracefully around my hip and sighed….. Oh, Erik… If only I would have known…If only I would have known you were going to be gone when I awoke… I would have told you about your son…. I wanted to wake up and leave to New York with you, but I awoke to find Raoul sitting there…. He kissed me, and went on about how the doctor must have came over and delivered my child…. Never did he ask me, he just assumed that it was the doctor. You were gone again… But this time, I knew you wouldn't be back, because under my pillow, I found a note…_

"_Congratulations on your son….Have a nice life, for it is now complete…"_

_No, God, Erik! It was far from being complete….and now you were gone and never coming back. But as I lay here with our son in my arms, I can look down and see you within him….and oh how he looks just like you…. Our little Gustave is your own flesh and blood, my love….And it's such a great thing that Raoul believes it to be his….. For now my child is forever safe….but alas, he is without his real father._

_Come back to me, my love_

_Christine."_

When I finished, I placed the letter down, and heard my father sigh….And even if he couldn't hear it, at least I had brought him some peace….I always knew anything about my mother could…..

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**Ok, Please Please Please review!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hey everyone! Thanks again for the reviews….. Here's the next chapter. Please enjoy! And I'm always up for ideas…. **

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**Gustave's POV**

The following morning, I awoke to see my father still asleep. I placed my letters aside, and approached him to see if his fever had come down. It did. His eyes then opened, and I smiled…. Everything was going to be ok…. My father wasn't going to die after all….

"How do you feel, Erik?"

"Like I've been torn apart…" he groaned.

Suddenly, the door to the room opened, and Meg walked in. My father's eyes met hers, and complete utter anger filled him.

"What are you doing here! You wanton! You…..You…" my father couldn't even finish yelling, for a violent cough erupted from his throat and causing him to choke on it. Meg rushed over to help, but I pushed her away.

"Get away from him!" I yelled. "Get out of here…."

The girl did as she was asked, and ran out of the room, slamming the door behind her. When my father got control over his cough, he managed to sit up.

"Where are we?"

"Madame Giry's home…. I needed help. You were dying…."

"You're a good boy, Gustave….."

Moments later, the door opened again, and Mirela came walking in….

"Monsieur Phantom…"

My father plopped back against his pillow in agony, and growled at her.

"Damn you, woman…..What do you want now?"

"Yes, what do you want?" I sneered…

"I came by with some medicine… If you'll let me help you that is…."

I would have turned the woman away, but I knew that my father's life depended on it.

I sat there on the floor, watching Mirela tend to my father's wound. She opened his bandage up, and spread some kind of lotion over his chest….. I knew it burned him, but if it was going to help then my father was in no immediate danger. When she finished up, she re-bandaged my father's chest, and covered him up.

"There, that should help you….."

"Thank you. Now let me rest."

Mirela packed up her supplies she had used on my father, and walked past me without even saying a word. I still hated the woman for what she did the other night…..Just because she decided to come by with some medicine now wasn't changing a thing.

"How do you feel, Erik?" I asked.

"A little better…..I just want to rest….The sooner I get better, the sooner we can get back to the opera house…"

"I don't think we should go back, Erik…." I said. "I don't think we should live there anymore…."

"And what makes you believe this?"

"Raoul…..he's searching for you….."

"Where else are we to go then?"

I glanced down to the floor, and tried to think….. I wanted to live a normal life….with my father….

"Maybe we could buy a home….in the country side. Don't you think?"

"And what would people think? What would people think when they see a masked man with a child?"

"I don't care what they think…." I snapped. "I only care about you…..Please, Erik…..please let us buy a home…."

"I'll think about it…"

"But…"

"No buts! I said I'll think about it…."

My father was a strict man, and I knew better than to question him.

"Yes, Erik…."

"Now run along and let me rest….. Don't go too far either…."

I nodded, and picked up my letters before leaving the room. I snuck right past Madame Giry, and made my way towards the city….. While walking through the bizarre, I noticed Meg shopping around and tried to ignore her….When she saw me, she began moving towards me but I didn't even acknowledge her existence…

"Gustave….wait up…"

Even when she called me, I continued to ignore her.

"Gustave…."

"Go away…." I shouted, running towards the woods.

When she grabbed hold of my shirt, I pulled away and hit her in the face… This immediately caused her to let me go, and I stopped to face her…..

"I said leave me alone!"

"I didn't mean to do what I did….Your mother and I were friends…."

"Friends don't kill friends….And to top it all off, you tried to kill me! You should be in jail! Locked up!"

"I love your father, Gustave…he's a good man…."

I was already giving Meg more of my time than she deserved…I turned around to head towards the woods, but before I did, I pushed her out of my way and shouted one final thing to her.

"Tear off his mask, and then tell me if you still love him!"

"Gustave….."

"Stay away from him! Or I'll see to it myself…."

And with that, I ran deep into the woods, away from Meg. The woods became thicker as I continued to run….Run away from everything that I hated. My mother was gone, Meg was loose, and my father was sick! Why couldn't everything just be like they were…..before my mother was killed. I had thought to be alone, but that was far from the case…I stopped to rest for a moment of two, when I began to hear a rustling in the brush…. I picked up a stick, and held it in front of my body to shield me from anything that was out there…..

"Go away! I'm warning you….."

I circled around in place several times, awaiting something to jump out, but nothing happened.

"Who's out there!"

When no one answered, I let down my guard and that's when I felt someone jump on me from behind. I landed in the leaves, only to see that it was in fact Reneasia who had attacked me….. She rolled off my body and plopped back laughing hysterically….

"Reneasia!" I groaned. "What are you doing?"

"You're silly, Gustave…."

"What do you want?"

I stood up and brushed the leaves off my pants.

"I saw you walk in here, and so I followed you….."

"I could have hurt you…." I said, throwing the stick aside….

Reneasia didn't seem concerned, and continued playing in the leaves.

"Let's play, Gustave….."

"Play?" I questioned.

Reneasia stood up, and pulled me by the hand leading me deeper into the woods.

"I'll be the princess, and you can be the dashing young prince who comes to save me…."

"I'm not playing this ridiculous game…." I replied, pulling my arm from hers. "If you want to play games about princesses and dolls, you'll have to find someone else to do it…."

"Oh, come on Gustave….please…"

"No…."

Reneasia came closer to me, and tried to pull me by the hand once more, but when I tried to pull away, she snatched my mother's letters out of my pocket and ran with them! I chased her…Oh, how I chased the little brat! How dare she take something that isn't even hers!

"Reneasia! Give me back the letters!"

"You'll have to catch me then!"

Deeper and deeper into the woods we ran…..I crossed over a small creek, and heavy brush, trying to get my hands on the girl who was running ahead of me! But then after jumping over a fallen tree, something appeared…..It was a cottage….an abandoned one… The roof was covered in weeds, and the vines tangled around each window….

Reneasia seemed to stop as well, and that's when I snatched the letters from her.

"Hey…"

"Damn you, girl!" I snapped. "You could have ruined them…."

I stuck them back into my pocket, and began heading to the front door.

"What are you doing?" she asked. "Don't go in there…."

"Hush up…." I snarled, before continuing to approach it.

My hand reached out for the door knob, and opened it. When I saw that there was no one inside, I glanced back at Reneasia, and motioned her to follow me….

"Come on…."

Slowly she followed behind, and I entered…. The place was very dusty, and looked as if it hadn't had anyone living there in over a decade… There was a small kitchen, a family room, and then a spiral staircase that led to a second floor.

"This place is perfect…" I said.

"For what?"

"For me and my father…. I could fix it up, and then we could live here….."

"I don't know, Gustave… It's rather dirty…"

"Help me clean it up…"

A smile appeared on the girl's face, and she crossed her arms as if waiting for something.

"What?"

"I'll help you, but I want something in return…."

"What?"

"If I help you, then while we're cleaning up you have to be my husband…..And call me sweetie and…"

"I'm not playing house with you…"

"Pleaseeee Gustave…Please…I'm not helping if you don't…."

"You're such a girl…."

"Come on, Gustave… it will be fun…."

"I'd rather not…."

"Fine, then I'm going home…"

"Good luck finding your way back…" I laughed. "You might get lost and some animals might eat you…"

This had scared the girl, and finally agreed to help me. We started off by dusting the floors with an old broom I found in a closet…. There was so much dust consuming the cottage that it took mostly all day to finish it. There were lots of other things that needed to be repaired, but at least the dust was gone….. When the sun began to set, I decided to start heading back to Madame Giry's house before it got dark out….

"We'll come back tomorrow and continue fixing it up…" I told Reneasia as I led her home.

"Ok….."

Once I made it to the opera house, she gave me a quick hug; something I hated…. Before leaving me. I made it to Madame Giry's house just as the street lights were coming on. When I entered, I found her sitting by the fireplace reading a book.

"Where have you been?" she asked, her strong accent shooting through me like a bullet.

"Out…" was all I said. She wasn't my mother, and I didn't have to answer to her.

"Your father has been worried sick about you, Gustave….."

"Well, I'm home now…"

And with that, I entered my father's room. I had expected to see him laying in bed, but he wasn't….. He was sitting at the desk over in the far corner, writing. His mask was off, and his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows.

"Hello, Erik…" I said, sitting down to remove my shoes.

"Where have you been!" he growled, coughing afterwards…

I cowered in the corner I was sitting in, and noticed his blue eyes glowing with anger as he turned to face me…..

"I told you not to go far! I have been worried sick about you!"

"I'm….I'm sorry…"

"That's no excuse….What if something bad was to happen to you! I would never forgive myself!"

"I didn't mean to disobey you…."

"Damn you boy!"

My father rose to his feet, and stomped over to me and grabbed me by the shirt.

"I should punish you for going away like you did!"

"I was playing in the woods! I didn't mean to go far!"

My father saw my fear, and loosened his grip on me….. He threw me down on his bed, and turned away.

"You're all I have left….of her…" his voice had become nothing more than a whisper, and next I found him sobbing over at his desk…

Damn me! I had hurt him…How could I be so careless to just go off as I had? I had worried him…

"Christine…oh, Christine…..I'm such a horrible father…..horrible…so horrible…"

I couldn't let my father go on as he was….. He wasn't horrible… he was trying, and that's all that mattered. I approached my father's side, and rubbed his back sympathetically.

"You're not a horrible father….."

This had gotten his attention.

"You're the best one in the world…."

And then I wrapped my arms around him, and embraced his body… I heard him gasp upon contact, and then he began sobbing once more…but these were tears of joy…

"And you're the best son I could ever ask for….." he choked in between sobs.

We stayed like that for a long time, never wanting to break away….. After a while, I glanced up at him, and slowly unwrapped myself from around him.

"How are you feeling?"

"Quite better….Sleep has done me well…."

"I'm not tired, really….. Could we go do something? Perhaps get some ice cream?"

"I should really stay inside, Gustave…"

"Come on, Erik…..it's warm tonight… it shouldn't effect your illness."

My father placed his mask back over his face, and threw his cloak over him.

Once we were outside, the sky was dark, and I took my father by the hand and led him down the street…..

"Where are you taking me?" he asked.

"The best ice cream parlor in town…..come on…."

My father playfully chased after me as we swept through the streets of Paris, like two ghosts…. Oh, how I remember my mother doing the same. We used to leave the estate together and chase one another through the streets until we wound up at the tiny lit parlor to get our ice cream. Afterwards we would sit on some rocks near Calais and look out at the ocean…..counting ships and the stars….. Talking about things that we loved, and things that were never to be….. It was just her and I….and now, it was going to be just Erik and I….

When we arrived at the ice cream parlor, my father stayed hidden as I approached the crowd of people standing in a line to order their ice cream. I knew it was best that my father stay away from people….especially with Raoul looking for him. I could fit into any crowd… I was a child… A child who looked no different than any other child. But Erik, he stood out like a sore thumb, especially with his mask. When it was my turn to order, I stood up on my tippy toes to face the man behind the small window and told him what I wanted. Afterwards, I laid my money down, and was given two cups of pumpkin ice cream…my favorite. I only hoped my father would like it too….. I then slipped away back to where I had left Erik, and motioned him to follow me.

"Where are we going now?" he asked.

"Just follow me…"

A few blocks away, were the rocks that my mother and I always sat on…. I climbed to the very top of them, and so did Erik…. After taking a seat beside him, I handed him his cup and began devouring into mine…..

"Why did you take me here?" he asked.

I took the wooden spoon out of my mouth, and shrugged my shoulders.

"I don't know… I guess I just wanted it to be like old times…When my mother was alive."

I watched as my father placed a spoonful of ice cream into his mouth, and close his eyes…..

"How did you know?" he asked.

"Know what?"

"That this was my favorite flavor?"

I laughed.

"Because it's mine too."

"Your mother was the only one who knew that…."

"She cried you know….when I told her it was my favorite…"

My father nodded, and placed his spoon back into his ice cream.

"I bet she cried at a lot of things….. You must have always reminded her of me….and I know how much it must have hurt her…."

"We used to come up here and sit after getting ice cream." I said, looking out onto the calm sea. "We would talk for hours…..We found peace here…peace from him….that monster I once called father…."

"Your mother found peace in a lot of things…..sometimes even me…"

"When was the last time you ever saw her? Before she came to Coney?"

My father ran his fingers through his hair, as if trying to figure it out…

"A very long time ago…..a very very long time ago….why?"

"I was just wondering…."

"Your mother was the most special person I had ever had the privilege of knowing….and I miss her dreadfully everyday…."

"What if she were still alive? Would we have become one happy family?"

My father smiled at such a thought.

"I'd imagine she'd be sitting up here with us right now….. She loved spending time with me… I used to think it to be nothing more but pity, but I found out the hard way. She loved coming down to see me in the lair, and I never knew why…. I always used to think it to be too cold and feared for her health, but….she would just sit beside me and touch my hand while I played for her…."

Tears were falling from my father's eyes as he repeated such happy memories of my mother….. I missed her as well…. There was nothing more that I missed, than her being here with me….. I missed her singing, her stories, and even our ice cream outings.

"Could we do this all the time?" I cried….

I wiped my eyes, embarrassed that I was crying in front of my father, but soon, his fingers came and wiped them away for me….

"Yes, we shall….."

And just like that, a new relationship was born…. I was no longer sitting beside a stranger… I was sitting beside the man who loved my mother just as much as I did. We finished our ice cream slowly in silence, watching the ships pass on in the distance… It was peaceful… It was as if my mother were here again….That same warmth I had felt when sitting here with her had returned, and I sighed at such a wonderful feeling it was. When the time became late, and only when it did, both my father and I stood to our feet, and began our walk home with only the street lamps to guide our way in the dark of the night…hand in hand…son and father….father and son…and no longer strangers.

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**Ok everyone, please review! Let me know how you like it! I know there wasn't any letters from Christine read in this chapter, but I decided to give it a break... More letters shall be read again shortly...**


	15. Chapter 15

**Hey everyone, thanks again for the reviews! You've been awesome. Please enjoy the chapter.**

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**Gustave's POV**

That night after walking home, we both fell asleep in each other's embrace. It was a wonderful night's sleep….. The following morning, I awoke to find my father still sick. I felt bad about taking my father out the night before. I had caused him to wake up feeling exhausted and extremely irritable…..

I stood up from his bedside, and began to dress for the day. After fastening my last button on my shirt, I turned to see him groaning and covered in sweat…..

"Erik, are you going to be alright?"

He opened his eyes slightly, and nodded…. I knew he was too tired to talk, and so I didn't bother continuing the conversation. I managed to slip past Madame Giry, and head outside, but I couldn't escape Meg…. She was watering some flowers near the walk way, and tried to stop me. I ignored her like I had the day before, but she grabbed my shirt to pull me back.

"Gustave….would you talk to me for one second?"

I pulled away from her grasp, and continued to walk off.

"You can't ignore me forever…." were the next words I heard her say.

"I can and I will!"

If there was one thing I wanted to do, it was get my father out of Madame Giry's house as soon as possible. I knew as soon as my father was feeling better, I was going to make sure that we moved away….far far away from Meg. Perhaps not out of Paris, but the cottage was far enough to get away from the sight of her. I began to walk into town, heading towards the opera house to find Reneasia. Why was I seeking her out? I had it in my mind that I disliked her, yet I was going off to find her. Why? Because maybe she was my only friend… Believe it or not, I had no friends…. When I was growing up, my only friend was my mother. In school I was different….. I had ideas that no one else possessed…. Ideas that made me the butt of every joke, and the punching bag for all the bullies…. When I made it to the opera house, I entered through the chapel window and noticed Reneasia standing there waiting for me…..

"Gustave…. You came…"

"So I did…. Come on, let's get going."

Today was the first day of fall, and the weather was rather chilly. The leaves on the trees had all fallen and covered the streets in orange and yellow. If there was one thing I missed, it was my orange and black scarf that my mother had knitted me a few years back. I had left that and my brown winter jacket at Raoul's estate….. I only managed to grab a few of my clothes, and if there was one thing I forgot to bring, it was my winter accessories….. Reneasia on the other hand was dressed perfectly for the weather. She had on a pink scarf and a matching parka….along with black boots.

"Aren't you cold?" she asked, skipping beside me.

Indeed I was, but I wasn't about to let a girl know the obvious.

" No, I'm fine…." I replied, hiding hands under my arms.

"Where's your winter stuff?"

"I don't know…." I lied.

And just as we approached the opening of the woods, my worst nightmare appeared… We hadn't even stepped three feet into it, when I felt something hard hit me on the back of the head. I stopped walking and grasped the pain that was emerging from me, only to look back and see Philippe DeChagny standing there with two of his pals…. In all my ten years of living, I had never known a meaner bully than Philippe. Philippe was my cousin, two years older than me. He was tall and thin with dark short hair, and a smile that could get him out of any trouble he got himself into. Philippe was Raoul's sister's kid. They lived in Germany, and during the summer I never had to see them… I only thanked God for this… But when winter came, so did Philippe. Every winter, his mother would send him to Paris as an exchange student at my school, and he would stay at the estate with us while his parents traveled for work all winter long….. Before Philippe ever stayed with us, his father had him his own personal tutor, but I'll just leave it at _"things didn't go too well with him_"….. And so Raoul offered to take him in all winter long so he could have the proper education. Not only did the boy despise me, but he made sure to make my life into a living hell each moment he was around… And each and every time he taunted me, he would only have to smile at my teachers or Raoul to get himself out of trouble….. Though, my mother knew what he was, and he could never fool her…..even with that stupid smile.

"So if it isn't the lost boy…." he snarled, picking up another small stone and throwing it at me… "Your mummy isn't here to protect you now is she?"

"Just leave me alone….." I cried, placing my hand over my right eye; the exact one the stone had hit.

"I knew you were never my real cousin…Uncle told me what happened…. So is it true? That whore fornicated with a monster?"

"Go away! Please!"

"No, I don't think I want to…. I think I'm going to rather enjoy this….."

Philippe came closer, but Reneasia jumped in the way.

"You leave him alone! Pick on someone your own size…."

Philippe was at least three feet taller than her….. He didn't say a word, and pushed the girl aside before coming to me… But Reneasia wasn't giving up that fast… She came up behind him, and punched him in the back…

"Looks like you got yourself a little gypsy half-breed standing up for you…."

Philippe turned around, and shoved her to the ground.

"Though, I'm not here to beat her up….no, I', here to beat you…"

I tried to back up, but it was no use….. And then I did the only thing I knew how to do… I ran…. Oh, how I ran… I ran as fast as I could back into town, pushing passed people as Philippe and his pals ran after me…. I was used to being chased… Everyday in the winter after school he would chase me….and when he caught me, he always punched me over and over again until I begged him to leave me alone…. But of course when I arrived home, Raoul would always believe that I ran into a tree or what ever story Philippe gave him. And now that he knew that I wasn't his cousin, I was sure to be in for the beating of a lifetime…

When I got the chance, I ran down an alley and towards a fence at the end… I began to climb it, but I wasn't fast enough…. Soon I felt a bunch of hands cling to me, and pull me back to the ground. I was thrown into a puddle of mud, and when I was able to look, I saw Reneasia being held by one of his friends.

"Now it's time to have some fun with you…." replied Philippe giving me a swift kick to the ribs….

It hurt…. It hurt worse than anything he had ever done to me before. I cried in pain, and tried to sit up, but I couldn't…

He bent down, and pulled my hair to lift my head to face him.

"So how does it feel to have a monster for a father? How does it feel to be born a bastard?"

"Leave me alone….."

When he continued, I clenched my fist and tried to punch Philippe in the face, but it didn't work…..and this only made him angrier.

"Uncle wishes to see you sometime…he wants to speak with you, Gustave….." he snarled before slamming my face down to the hard concrete.

When I was let go, I lay there in agony, bleeding and bruised…. Reneasia tried to help me up, but I pushed her away….

I was embarrassed. I couldn't even defend myself… My body was aching in agony as I tried to get home, and people gawked at me… It felt so embarrassing, and I wondered if my father felt the same way when people did the same to him? I was hoping to come home and find my father sleeping, but when I walked inside, the first thing I saw was him sitting in one of Madame Giry's arm chairs reading. When he saw me all bloodied and messy, his face was as if he had seen my mother die all over again….. He immediately shot up from his chair, and came rushing over to me…

"Gustave….Oh, my god….what happened to you…."

He clenched his chest in agony upon seeing me, and pulled me into the washroom down the hall…. His fingers ran frantically over my clothes to get them off of me…. I was covered in mud, and all I could do was stand there as Erik cleaned me with a wet cloth…. The only thing wrong with my body was the bruised ribs, a few scrapes and my black eye… After he dressed me in a new pair of clothes, he pulled me into the kitchen and opened the icebox… Afterwards he through a cold steak over my eye and pressed my hand to it…..

"Hold that there, it will take away the swelling."

He coughed before making his way over to the stove to heat up some water.

"Who did that to you?" he asked, his hands clenching the side of the stove.

"I don't know what you mean…."

"Gustave! Don't test me like this! Who did it to you? Was it Raoul? Yes?"

"No….."

I looked down at the table, and away from my father's glare…

"I hate it here…" I replied, my voice nothing more than a whisper.

"Well I don't like it much either…."

"I found us somewhere to live….I want to go there…as soon as possible…"

My father sat a steaming cup down in front of me, and forced me to look up at him.

"What do you mean?"

"I found a cottage in the woods…. It's abandoned…maybe we could…"

"No!" my father shouted this before I could even finish my sentence…..

"Erik, what' wrong? It's perfect! It's the most perfect place to live…"

"We shan't be going to that cottage….."

"But…"

"No! you don't understand a thing, Gustave! You don't understand that meaning of no! Haven't you ever been told no before!"

He was shouting at me in the angriest tone I had ever heard from him. I placed my head on the table, and covered it with my arms to shield me from such rage.

"There must be a reason why…." I cried… "Please…..Why can't you tell me? Why can't you be truthful with your only son?"

Suddenly his anger had stopped, and I was able to lift my head…. He took a few breaths and a few coughs before sitting down across from me….

"You don't need to hear such things. You're a child, and should be told nothing more than happy things….."

"I want to know…." I said, never backing down from my request.

"I know the cottage is abandoned….." he began. "It's been that way since I was your age…"

"How do you know?"

He closed his eyes in such agony, before taking a breath….

"My life was anything but happy… But to make a long story short, I was captured by gypsies after running away from home. I had a horrible master who enjoyed beating me for no reason each and every night. The scars you've seen a few nights ago that covered my body were created by him…. He had this whip that used to leave my bare flesh stinging for days, and eventually forming hundreds of hideous scars. When I could no longer take the abuse brought upon me by him, I decided to run away….. The gypsies traveled a lot and would go from town to town…. We came to Paris and that's when I decided to run…. I ran deep into the woods and soon my master caught up with me…. We came across the cottage and he drug me inside…"

My father stopped, and closed his eyes once more…I knew it was painful for him to think about such things, but I needed to know….

"Erik….please…"

"My master drug me inside and did horrible things to me…. I always wondered why he was never married…even after a night's show, he would never run off and chase the other gypsy girls around….No….and it was on that night, I knew the reason why…. He liked boys…..and I found out the hard way….He made me do things to him…..and he did things ten times worse to me….things I still have nightmares about….things I used to wake up screaming over…..And your mother…your mother used to wake me up at night and hold me in her arms to make those memories go away…..I can't, Gustave….."

"How did you get away from the gypsies for good?"

My father immediately slammed his hands down on the table, and stood to his feet.

"I said too much…I shouldn't have said what I did…..It's embarrassing."

And just like that, he disappeared into his bedroom….. I was about to get up, but Madame Giry came walking in with Meg who had a bag of groceries with her. I would have left, but Madame Giry asked me to stick around for dinner. It was horrible. Meg was standing over the stove cooking some kind of stew while Madame Giry set the table…. It was torture to be in the same room as her… When dinner was ready, Meg sat down across from me, and Madame Giry yelled for my father to come out. Moments later, he came walking out to the kitchen, and as soon as he saw Meg, he turned around.

"Erik! You get back here this instant!" shouted Madame Giry…

My father turned around, but didn't move a muscle.

"I will not join you at the table as long as that little wanton is sitting there…."

Meg looked up from her plate filled with such disgust.

"What did you call me! What did you call me!"

"I believe you heard me. But if just in case you don't understand my English, I'll say it in French. You're a dévergondé… A wanton….. Rumor has it that you were quiet a prostituée back in Coney Island….."

"Only for you! I only did it to help you!"

"Me? Sleeping around, flashing yourself in front of men for money was helping me? I didn't need your filthy money!"

"You displayed yourself in that freak show!" cried Meg. "Did you think I enjoyed watching people laugh at you everyday, or hear others talking about how ugly you are…."

"You never even seen my face!"

"I wanted to make things better!"

"Better? Better? You killed my wife! You killed her!"

"She wasn't your wife…."

"She could have been! She would have been! I loved her!"

"And I loved you! But you never ever recognized me!"

The room fell silent, and Meg stood up from her chair and began approaching my father. Madame Giry tried to stop her, but she pulled away…..

"I've always loved you, Erik…always!"

"Meg stop this!" shouted Madame Giry… "You don't know what you're doing…."

My father and Meg were close enough to touch now… They stood there beside one another, my father looking angrily into her eyes.

"Christine has done something that you will never be able to do….."

"And what's that?"

And it was then that my father tore away his mask for the first time in front of Meg….. Her eyes filled with horror, and she screamed so loudly at such a sight…She cowered to her knees, and looked away, sobbing uncontrollably….

"That…." my father replied, replacing his mask. "Christine never screamed in my face…..She is the only one who's never cowered and screamed like all the rest….. And believe it or not, Meg, Christine made love to me…and it might have been dark that night, but I could see her eyes, and they never looked away from my face as we did it….That is something that will never happen again….. You don't love me…. You love the idea of the male body…."

"Erik, don't you talk about my daughter that way!" screamed Madame Giry.

"But it's true, Madame….. Put any man in front of her and she will ride him like one of my many amusement rides in Phantasma."

Madame Giry cradled her daughter and ordered my father and I to leave… I stood up, and grabbed my letters and mother's journal before walking out with my father who seemed more than happy to leave. The night was cold, and I knew that we couldn't stay out in it too long because of my father's illness.

"You know, Erik…" I said after a while. "The cottage in the woods is cleaned up…..Reneasia and I did it…."

"Like I told you before, boy….. I'm not going there."

"It's warm…..and I promise to stay by your side all night long if you need me to….."

"I said no! Now don't make me say it again….."

"We could paint it, and make it so that it never even looks like what it did….."

My father sighed.

"You're not going to give up are you? You're like your mother….once she has something stuck in her head, there's no changing it."

"Well where else are we going to go?"

My father knew I was right…. Where else were we going to go….. And so, we changed our direction in which we were headed, and began to make our way to the cottage… It wasn't much, but it was warm and a place to stay away from the bad weather…and maybe, just maybe we would finally find peace and quiet, along with a place to finally call home…

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**Ok, I know there weren't any letter readings in this one either, but they are coming… first thing next chapter…. Please, Please, Please review… and I'm always up for ideas….. Thanks again guys, you're great!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Hey everyone, thanks again for the reviews! Enjoy the chapter! And please let me know what you think….**

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**Gustave's POV**

I couldn't sleep when we arrived at the cottage…how could I? My father's whimpering had kept me up all through the night… He lay there in his makeshift bed, tossing and turning, whimpering my mother's name over and over again as he slept. I tried to cover my ears with my pillow, but it was no use…..And I knew better than to wake him… He needed all the rest he could get. So, I did the next best thing; I decided to read another one of my mother's letters…not out loud of course, but to myself. The last thing I needed was for my father to hear me and find the letters in my grasp. Even after all the letters I had read, there were still many more to go….. It was as if my mother had spent ten years of my life writing to the man she truly loved….hiding them from Raoul.

"_August 12__th__ 1872_

_Erik,_

_It has been months since my last letter…. I had stopped writing you, because I believe you to be dead….. After our last meet, I can do nothing but think that…. I often wonder where you are right now….I often wonder if you are alright. I can no longer bear to be here with Raoul. He has begun to do nothing but drink….ever since that night… I know this for a fact because every night I wake to see him sneaking back inside in the early hours of the morning smelling rather dreadful…. I hate it, Erik, oh, how I hate it. Oh, Erik…It's all my fault….How could I have done such a thing? Our little Gustave is the only thing keeping me happy…. He looks more and more like you each and everyday. He took his first steps today, Erik….. I would have never believed it, but he did. I was reading in the study, while our son played on the floor….and just like that, he stood to his feet, and took a few steps before plopping back down…..I cried….If only you could have been there, Erik… You missed his first steps, and all because of Raoul….because he ordered to have you killed, because of something I did….. I hate him for this, and I can only pray that some way, some how…..Oh, Erik….. He busted both your legs. I seen it with my own two eyes, I heard the crack….. But I never regret doing what I did… I only regret making my husband suspicious… I find it hard to continue writing this letter…. But I promise to love you from now until I die, my love….For there is no other love like the one we had shared….. _

_Christine"_

This letter had been confusing, and I had no idea what my mother was talking about. I sat there thinking for a few moments, before pulling out her journal, and opening it to the last page I had read…..and then, I found the entry I had been looking for….

"_June 2__nd__ 1872_

_Ever since my child was born, I have done nothing but stay inside with him. All my husband wants me to do is sit inside alone….bored. But today was different…Today was perfect. The weather has been rather hot, but today I awoke to a wonderfully breezy day… It had been ages since I had been to the market, and so I decided to go. Raoul was busy with business to take me, and so I took it upon myself to go alone….Well, not alone, I had Gustave with me of course. I placed him in a papoose that one of Raoul's aunts had given me as a present, and walked into town dressed in a blue summer gown Raoul had bought me for Christmas….It was actually the only thing he had bought me. Oh, I'll never forget the smell of fresh fruit and bread that tainted the air, and the breeze that wrapped around me and my child…._

_Gustave rather enjoyed being outside, for he cooed and giggled each time the wind would blow… I had stopped at a produce stand to pick up some fresh grapes, when I noticed something out of the corner of my eye….A white mask! I paid for my grapes, and turned to see a dark figure walking behind and alleyway….. I believed my mind to be playing tricks on me….Yes, I did miss Erik, but I knew he wasn't coming back…. The note he had left me after Gustave's birth was enough to make that obvious. To calm my nerves down, I popped a grape into my mouth, and headed further into the market to get some bread…But when I stopped to pay for a loaf, I saw the figure again! This time, he began walking down the road….It had to be Erik! His thinness and stature matched up perfectly and I couldn't help but to satisfy my curiosity….. I followed this figure down the streets, and all the way to an inn… The same inn Erik and I had made love in just over a year ago…. I had wanted to stand there and watch him enter a room, but Gustave giggled, causing the figure to turn around… It was Erik! It was him! White mask, glowing eyes, and wig….a little longer than I remembered it being, but it was him! _

_He looked at me for the longest of seconds, before slowly approaching. I stood there beside him in amazement, and couldn't get over that he was actually here…_

"_What are you doing here?" he asked._

"_Might I ask you the same question…."_

_He pulled me into his room, and looked out the window, as if someone was following him._

_He told me that he was here on business, and would be returning to New York in the morning…..I had my perfect time to tell him about Gustave, but before I could do so, he told me that he's been sick…with a weak heart… so I decided to keep it away from him. I placed Gustave down on the bed, and embraced my angel…Oh, it was such a wonderful hug….I never wanted to break away from it, but he did when he saw Gustave smiling from the bed…._

"_So this is little Gustave…Well, he's not so little any more…"_

_He approached him, and stood there watching him pound his tiny hands against the mattress…_

"_He seems like a happy child.." Erik stated._

_I smiled._

"_He is…."_

_Erik then turned to me with a heavy heart, and told me to leave…. It was the hardest thing in the world to hear, but I couldn't lose him again… I just couldn't….and perhaps in time, our past would be far behind us…. I ran into his embrace, and wrapped my arms around him and began to sob into his shirt._

"_Please, please don't make me go back…I love you, Erik…"_

_Erik's hands twitched at my side, and I could feel his tears soaking into my hair…._

"_You don't want this…" he said. "You wouldn't like where I lived….I'm a freak…displaying myself in a show…"_

"_I don't care.." I cried. "As long as I'm with you, I don't care….please take me with you…."_

_I begged and pleaded Erik with all my heart, and eventually, our lips crashed against one another….Oh, the kiss was wonderful….One thing soon led to another, and we wound up on the bed….I couldn't believe this was happening…. I placed Gustave down on the rug for a nap, and returned to the bed with Erik…I never wanted him to leave….never…And soon, our clothes were thrown aside, and I once again made love to my angel….Our bodies wrapped around one another's as his hands wandered about me…making me sing once more…. And soon, we were one….. Afterwards as we lay in one another's arms, I sighed into his chest, and hugged him….never wanting to let go…._

"_We'll leave tonight…." he sighed. _

_We lay there intertwined in a pile of blankets, and soon, Gustave was in between us… He traced his fingers around Erik's mask, and giggled innocently….It was the second most beautiful thing I had ever seen… He smiled at him, and began to tickle his stomach….. _

_This was supposed to be the happiest moment of my life, but it soon turned out to be my worst nightmare….Because soon night fell, and the door was busted open, and in rushed a few of Raoul's workers, and Raoul! I had no clothes on, and Erik and I quickly pulled the blankets up over our bodies…..Raoul's eyes widened at such a sight, and he ordered his men to grab Erik…..I tried to reach for him, but it was too late….Erik was being pulled away from me…. Gustave was screaming now, and Raoul grabbed a metal rod from one of his men, and brought it down over Erik's legs….over and over again, and all I could do was sit there and cry as I heard the crack of bones in his legs…. Afterwards, he was pulled away as Raoul ordered his men to kill him…. That night, I was drug back to the estate, not knowing where Erik was, or if he was even alive… All Raoul could keep pushing on me was rape… and how Erik had raped me…. After that night, he never touched me again, never kissed me, never even spoke to me…. He was disgusted to know that Erik made love to me….. He even began drinking….. Life as I know it will never be the same again…..I can't even run to Erik, for he is surely dead….."_

All I could wonder after reading this was how my father had survived such a thing? Raoul was known for getting his orders done right, and if he had ordered someone to kill my father, then the deed had to be done….But how? How could he escape? And even if he did, he had two broken legs. Deciding to find out later, I finally laid down, and closed my eyes…. The loud whimpering had stopped, and soon, I was able to fall asleep…..

When I awoke the following morning, I noticed that my father was no longer laying in bed…. I closed my eyes again, but when I began to hear the sound of rustling water, I opened them to find my father sitting in a rusty bath tub…. The scars covering his chest and arms were tremendous, but if my mother didn't mind them, then who was I to turn away now?

"Are you alright?" I asked, running my fingers through my hair.

My father tried to turn away, but I decided to be the one to do that part…..

"Yes, fine…" he said.

"Do you feel any better?"

"Yes, a little…."

I lay there hearing my father getting up out of the water, and I couldn't help but turn my eyes to get a glance at his legs. They were pale, full of hideous scars, and the bones looked crooked…. However my father escaped, it had caused his legs to look as they did. I had to know how…. I had to know how he escaped….

When my father was dressed, he wandered into the kitchen, and began to heat up some oatmeal… I dressed myself, and walked out into the kitchen to have a seat… My father barely said two words to me as he took a seat across from mine, and began to eat his breakfast without wearing the mask.

"Could I ask you something?" I questioned, digging the spoon into my meal.

"You're welcomed to ask any question…..you're my son."

"I heard somewhere that Raoul bashed your legs and ordered his men to kill you…..How did you escape?"

His eyes widened at such a question….. He seemed surprised at the fact that I even knew about it…

"Who told you this?"

I couldn't tell him the truth… I just couldn't…

"Raoul…" I lied.

My father looked down at his meal, and then back up at me…..

"It's your mother's fault….She should have never came to me…..never! And she didn't even tell me you were my child! She angered me that day! Even when her precious Raoul came busting through the door accusing me of rape…..she just sat back and watched me get the daylights beaten out of me by her lover… She said she loved me…. She begged me to take her with me back to New York…She begged me to take both of you….She was lying….. The men drug me by my broken legs out back of the inn I was staying at, and threw me into the bay…. I laid there for days…..days! I laid there in agony…..dragging myself on shore and eventually to Calais…. By the time I reached New York…..I knew my legs would never be the same again. I stayed in Madame Giry's basement for months on a cot…..my legs bound tightly…And even then, I still loved your mother…"

"She loved you…..It wasn't true….She wanted to go to New York with you…."

My father slammed his hands down on the table in such anger.

"You lie! How do you even know? Your mother pitied me…I loved her with all my heart, and even then she couldn't love me back….."

"Erik! Stop this! She did love you! I swear!"

"Prove it then! How can you prove it! How? You lie to me, Gustave…..Your mother saw me as a way out and nothing more! She said she loved me….but how could I ever believe her…..I'm a monster….."

My father placed his face into his hands, and began to sob….. I had to do something…. I had to make things better….and show him that my mother did love him…. As he sobbed, I stood up from my seat, and walked over to where I kept the letters…. I pulled out the ones I had already read, and hid the unopened pile under my pillow…. When I retook my seat at the table, I slid the small pile over towards my father who was still crying. When he felt the letters nudge his arm, he looked up; his eyes red and full of tears…

"What are these?" he asked.

Oh, how was I to explain these to him? Surely he was going to be mad…

"They're letters…..letters addressed to you, from mother…."

My father picked up the stack, and looked down at them in curiosity…

"Where did you get these?"

"I found them in mother's room…..when I went to get some clothes…" I lied… "She had them hidden underneath the floor boards….."

"And you read them? Why!"

"Because I thought they would make you sad….. I thought reading something mother wrote to you would make you sick… Oh, please don't be mad…I only did it for your own good."

"And your mother wrote all these to me?"

I nodded… and many more. But I couldn't let my father read the ones I hadn't read yet… For if there was something bad in them…..something that would break my father's heart, I couldn't ever let him get his hands on it…..

"Since you have to stay inside, I thought they could make you feel better….."

My father clenched them to his chest, and closed his eyes…

"I'll….I'll read them later…"

My father rose to his feet, and placed the letters on his bed before returning to the table….

"Come, I need help repairing the roof…..It will be winter soon, and the last thing we need is a leaking roof…."

My father threw on his cloak, before walking outside… I followed, dressed in nothing more than my white shirt….. The air was chilly, and if there was anything I missed, it was my mother's scarf….

"Aren't you cold?" asked my father.

"A little, but it's fine…. I'll get my coat later…"

My father climbed to the roof, and then pulled me along with him…. He told me to sit still and hand him what ever tools were needed while he patched up the small holes.

"So is it true that you saw me as a baby?"

"Yes, a few times…..I always knew there was something about you that I liked….You were just like your mother… Always smiling in my presence."

"She kept it away from you, because you were sick…She was just trying to do what was best for your heart…."

My father looked up from his work spot, and smiled.

"It still would have been nice to see you take your first steps, or hear your first words….. Those are things I will never get back….and never have again…."

"You got to see my birth…."

"Not one of my specialties…I just did what needed to be done…."

"You were still there, and you got to hold me….."

"Gustave, enough! Now do your job and sit there…."

It was then that I heard rustling in the leaves, and looked out to see Mirela and Reneasia approaching…. My father grabbed my by my shirt, and whispered angrily into my ear.

"I thought you said this place was safe?"

"It is….. Reneasia is the only one that knows about it…."

By then, my father couldn't even say another word, because the pair was standing on our doorstep looking up at us…

"Gustave? What are you and your father doing up there?" asked Reneasia.

"Fixing the roof…"

Mirela smiled.

"Why don't you two come down…. I brought cider."

My father leaned forward slightly, and crossed his arms at the woman's offer.

"Why don't you take your cider and walk on back to the opera house…. I'm a wanted man remember? Wouldn't want to be caught now would you?"

"I'm sorry, Erik….." she replied. "Just come down from there….."

"Go to hell! All you women are the same! You all take one look at me and run before I even have the chance to explain myself…Now go away! This is private property!"

"I'm not leaving Monsieur Phantom, until you come down from there and have some cider…."

My father looked over at me, and shook his head.

"Devil woman!"

I stood up, and jumped down to the ground as my father easily climbed back down to meet me… He didn't even give Mirela one glance as he opened the door and offered the two of them inside….. Mirela found some glasses, and began to fill them up with the cider she had brought….

"It will make your illness go away…" she assured, handing my father a glass.

"Right. You can be on your way now…. I don't need you here…"

"If that is what you wish…..Though, I was wondering if perhaps you would be interested in having dinner sometime…."

"It will be a cold day in hell before I would ever join the likes of you for dinner….. Meg Giry has a better chance at getting that much from me than you ever will…."

"Erik!" I squawked. "Be considerate…"

My father paused for a moment, before answering Mirela once again.

"Right….anyway…. Thank you for the offer, but I don't think so…"

"Gustave is welcomed to come too…. I'm sure my little Reneasia would enjoy it very much…..Thanksgiving is approaching in the next few weeks, and I would enjoy it very much to have to two as company…"

"No thank you….."

"Well, think about it and…."

"I said, _no thank you_…." my father growled….

"If you change your mind…"

"I won't be changing my mind, Madame…. Thank you…"

Mirela said her goodbye to me, and called for Reneasia to come…..

"I'll be there in a minute…" she replied.

Instead of following her mother, Reneasia tugged me outside so we could talk….. I knew there was something on her mind….there always was… But today how ever, she seemed upset….

"What's wrong?" I asked, seeing her sad expression.

"Nothing…" she sighed.

"Yes, there is….."

"It's just that…. Well…."

"Well?"

"Oh, Gustave, it's terrible….. The ballerinas are having a slumber gathering together and they didn't invite me… They laughed when I asked to join them…. They said I'm not good enough….."

"Why would you want to be in any kind of gathering with them anyway? They treat you terribly….."

"It's just that I always wanted to go to a slumber gathering….. I think it be fun… to sit up all night playing games and then sleeping together…..Oh, it be wonderful…."

I couldn't believe that I felt bad for this girl….but some how I could relate to her…. When all the other boys at my school had parties, I was never invited….and when I asked why, they would remind me on how much of a freak I was… And then again, I never had anyone to make things better…..But Reneasia had me…she had me….

"Well….um…maybe tonight we could have our own slumber gathering in my attic?" I slurred the words, never even meaning to have them come out as they did…..but they did… and what did I do? I invited her over my house to have a slumber gathering….and in my attic yet….. Her sad expression lit up into a smile, as she once again threw herself into my embrace…

"Oh, Gustave! This is going to be the best slumber gathering ever…. We'll play games, and eat snacks and tell stories about princesses….."

"If you even breathe the word _princess _tonight, I will never ever invite you over again…."

She backed away, and her face lit up red in embarrassment.

"Oh, and there's one condition…"

"What?"

"I will let you come over, but there is to be no talk of princesses and no begging of me to read you more letters….."

"I won't….I promise…."

"Alright then… I'll come by tonight after the sun goes down… Be ready in the chapel…"

She hugged me one last time, before running off to catch up to her mother….. I would have let her stay, but I had other things to do….other things to plan…. For tonight, I was going back into the DeChagny estate to take back what was mine…I wanted my winter coat and scarf….It wasn't going to be easy, and it sure as heck wasn't going to be fun, but at least when winter came, I would be warm…..

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**Ok everyone, slumber party and the break-in to the estate is up next! Please please please Review! Thanks again! **


	17. Chapter 17

**Hey everyone thanks again for the wonderful reviews. I'm very proud of this chapter and I hope you enjoy it too… Oh, and I have had some concern over the whole Thanksgiving thing. I understand that the French do not celebrate Thanksgiving, but you must remember that both Erik and Madame Giry have been Americanized over the past ten years…So I decided that it be interesting to have them living in France and still carrying on the American holidays. Anyway…enjoy…**

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**Gustave's POV**

That evening when it began to get dark out, I grabbed my bag, and snuck past my father who was resting on his bed….

"Where are you off to at such a late hour?" he questioned from his bed…

I couldn't get anything past him…..

"Um… To get Reneasia…"

"Don't be long, son.."

"I won't."

And just like that, I snuck out and in the direction of the estate. The fall night was cold, and as each moment passed, I knew I was ten steps closer in getting my coat back. When I made it to the estate gates, I slipped through like I did before, and headed to the cellar window…. The window was left open once more, and I crawled through it and headed towards the door….. The house was in darkness, something I was quite glad about…. I snuck carefully through the hallways, and up the staircase to reach my room…. When I made it to my door, I opened it and snuck in…. Only when I was there did I notice that Philippe was asleep in my bed. Damn Raoul! He must have given the boy my room….

Slowly I crept over to the closet, and opened it to search for my jacket and scarf….They weren't here! Where the hell were they? And then I heard the familiar voice of Philippe teasing me from the bed.

"Looking for this, Gustavo…"

I turned my head to see Philippe holding up my scarf and jacket from the bed, and cringed… I knew this wasn't going to be easy….

"Just give them to me so I can be on my way…."

"And what's in it for me? You tell me that…."

"They're mine…. Come on, Philippe….. Just give them to me."

The coat and scarf were thrown at me, and I couldn't believe that Philippe gave them to me this easily…. I slipped on my jacket and scarf, before walking towards the door…

"You didn't think it was going to be this easily did you? You thought wrong…."

And then the boy screamed….. He screamed as if someone was aiming to kill him… Quickly, I darted out of the room and towards the stairs to get back towards the basement.. But before my feet could even touch the stair, I was grabbed….and by Raoul!

"Going somewhere, boy?"

He drug me to his office, and threw me in a chair before slamming the door behind him. He was dressed in his usual black robe that he always wore to cover his obvious pair of clothes that he had underneath it…. He always did this to disguise it from my mother so he could sneak out for a drink during the night…..

"You're trespassing on private property, boy…"

"I only came for my coat and scarf…."

"Of course….. The one your mother made you…."

"I just want to go home…"

"To daddy, right? Your rapist father who impregnated my poor wife with his hideous gene…"

"It's not true, mother loved him…..she wrote about it you know… She wrote about how much she hated you…and how much she wanted to go to New York with my father… How Erik was ten times better in bed than you ever…"

"Enough!…Enough…."

He grabbed me by the shirt, and pulled me to him.

"I should kill you where you stand, boy…. But I won't….. I have a proposition for you…"

"I'll never help you…never!"

"I want your mother's will… I have not been able to find it, and I want it… You see, there is something very near and dear to me listed on it, and I need to know where to find it…."

"I don't know what you're talking about… there is no will…."

"I'll tell you what… I'm giving you ten days to find her will and bring it to me. If you don't, then on the eleventh day I am going to be sending my men out to catch and kill your father, and this time, I won't miss….."

I didn't answer him, and he smiled.

"Right, you're afraid…I'll lay it down to you. You either get me the will, or your father is going to die, and you'll have yourself a one way ticket to foster care…."

He then drug me downstairs, and threw me out the door…. I ran.. What else could I do? I ran so fast towards the opera house without a second glance. When I made it to the chapel, I was glad to see Reneasia standing there ready to go.

"You came…" she said.

"Yes, come on…."

The whole way back to the cottage, I couldn't do anything more than think about the possibility of loosing my father… I had no idea where the will was, or even if there was one….

"Something wrong, Gustave?"

"No, I'm fine…."

When we arrived, we walked in through the front door to see my father laying in his bed fast asleep, with the letters piled on his stomach….

We slipped past him, and walked up to the attic where I had made a tent out of a white sheet with a small candle lighting it….

"Oh, Gustave! This is so great… It's like a great big castle…"

"What did I tell you before, Reneasia? No talk about castles or princesses…"

"Ok…."

We both crawled into the tent, and had a seat on the pillows I had placed there…

"Does your father know I'm here?"

"Yea…. He's asleep…."

"Really, Gustave, what's wrong? You're not yourself…..Did something happen?"

I plopped back on a few of the pillows, and sighed.

"I went to the estate…..I know I shouldn't have done it, but I did… I went there to get my coat and scarf, and Raoul caught me… He told me that I needed to find my mother's will in ten days time… If I don't find it then he's going to kill my father…"

"How does he even know there is a will?"

"I don't know…but I need to find it…."

"If you were your mother, then where would she put something like that?"

"That's the thing, I don't know…. But if there was a will, and she left anything to my father, then she would have hidden it good so that Raoul could never get his hands on it…."

"I'll help you Gustave…. We'll do it together…"

"Really? You promise?"

Reneasia nodded, and I felt a huge weight come off of my shoulders.

"You're my best friend, Gustave…. I would help you do anything…."

Sometimes I believed that I was the girl's only friend….. She was picked on by every other living soul but me….. But who was I to do that to her? I didn't even see one thing about her that could ever make me want to do such a thing…. Why? Was it possible for me to actually have feelings for this girl?

"Hey, Gustave… let's play a game…"

"What kind of a game?"

"How about truth or dare?"

I nodded, and laid down on the bed of pillows surrounding us.

"Ok, Gustave….truth or dare?"

"Truth…"

"Have you ever kissed a girl…"

I rolled my eyes… I couldn't believe Reneasia was actually asking me such a question.

"Yes…"

"Oh, and your mother doesn't count…"

"Then no…."

Reneasia giggled, and I threw my pillow at her.

"Stop that…it's not that funny…."

"Yes it is…"

"No, it's absolutely not…..I bet you never even kissed a boy before…"

"No, I didn't…."

"Then why are you laughing at me?"

She shrugged her shoulders, and I groaned before plopping the opposite way on the pillows. This time however, as I laid on my back, I could see the stars from the attic window.

"What are you looking at?" she asked.

"Lay down beside me and you'll see…."

She did, and we both laid there looking up at the stars.

"I miss it, you know…"

"Miss what?" she asked.

I laid there for a few moments in silence, thinking about the past and how wonderful it was when my mother was alive….

"My mother… I miss her."

"I know how you feel, Gustave… I miss my father too."

"I know, but I miss spending time with her, and just being there for one another… I also miss her for my father. It would have been nice to actually be together as a family….. He cries for her in his sleep sometimes, and I know that he misses her just as much as I do… maybe even more…"

"Maybe your father will find another mother for you someday…."

"I don't see that ever happening. My mother was the only one who could look upon his face and love….sometimes I even have a hard time looking at him without wanting to turn away….No, my mother was special, she had a power nobody else possessed…..She could see the inner beauty of others."

"Your father is a good man, Gustave…. I'm sure there must be someone out there that would be able to do it."

"It's funny Reneasia…..because I know deep within my heart if my father ever did meet someone who could do it, I know that he would never love that person no matter what….His love has always been for one person and one person only….my mother."

"What's one of the things you used to do with your mother?"

I smiled, and looked back up at the stars.

"We used to go outside when it was dark, and look at the stairs…. She did it with her father, she had done it with me too….. She never knew much about them, except of what she was taught by her angel of music…."

"Your father?"

I nodded….

"She never told me it was him. She always told me that it was her angel of music…..and after reading the letters, I know now that it was my father who taught her about the stars. She told me that after her father died, she came to the opera house, and her angel of music used to stand beside her and teach her everything about the stars that he knew."

Reneasia got to her knees, and leaned over on the ledge of the window to look outside..

"Hey, look at this…" she said, her voice nothing more than a sweet whisper.

I too got to my knees, and looked outside to spot my father standing beside a nearby tree, looking up at the sky….. He looked so lost without my mother, and it hurt me to see him so alone.

"You should spend sometime with him, Gustave….. You know, take your mother's place. He needs you….Now more than ever…"

Reneasia was right, he did need me….and I was hardly ever there. Everyday I would run off from him to go play, instead of spending time with him…He was so lonely, and I was too stubborn to see it.

"You're right…."

We both watched as my father dropped to his knees, and began to sob into his hands….. It broke my heart to sit there and watch it, but what could I do?

"Could I leave you for a few minutes?" I asked. "I promise I'll be right back…."

"Go ahead….I'll be right here.."

I stood to my feet, scurried down the stairs and out the front door to see my father still on his knees and sobbing. I approached his side, and noticed that the letters I had given him were laying beside him…..

"Erik?"

It took a few moments, but he spoke to me in between sobs…

"She…she loved me…..She loved me…"

"I know….I read the letters…"

"It's all my fault…..I…I pushed her away….I denied her love…..She wrote to me and….and all this time I believed her to….to…hate me…."

He could no longer speak, for a huge sob took over his body, and sat there shaking uncontrollably and heaving hysterically.

I knelt down beside him, and did the only thing I knew how to do in this situation… I hugged him…. My mother used to do the same to me when I was upset….and I know for a fact that she did the same to Erik as well….I sat there, holding my father in my arms, hoping that perhaps some of my mother's love could leave me, and spill into him…..

Soon his sobs had subsided, leaving him heaving for air, and shaking….

"You shouldn't be out here…." I said. "You should be asleep…."

"I miss her…" he cried. "So much…."

"I know you do, Erik…I miss her too….but you have me… I'm here with you. I should be spending time with you…"

"Oh, Gustave…. You're just like your mother in everyway… I love you, my son…. I love you…."

"I….I…."

"You don't have to say it…." interrupted my father. "It's ok….no one beside your mother could….."

"No, I do…I can feel it deep inside me…. It's just hard for me to say it because I was so used to saying it to Raoul…."

"As long as you're here, you never have to say it…."

I broke away from Erik, and looked him in the eyes…

"I love you, papa….."

My father's eyes widened from behind his mask, and a huge smile formed before another sob choked him….

Once more I embraced him, and I helped him inside…..Once there, I laid him down in bed before covering him up…. I knew he believed this to all be a dream, but when he awoke I was going to make sure he knew the love was still there…..

When I walked back up in the attic, Reneasia was sitting there smiling.

"That was a very brave thing you did, Gustave…."

"He's my father, he needs me….."

"I'm sure if your mother were here, she would be happy….."

"I'm sure too."

"So where are your grandparents?"

"My mother's mother died giving birth, and my grandfather when my mother was just a child."

"What about your Father's parents?"

"I don't know…I suppose I could ask, but sometimes things of the past make my father upset…..Besides, I'm sure that they want nothing to do with him….Why else would he be living the way he does? And with how lonely he is, I'm sure if he had a loving family he would be glad to be around them….."

"Was he born that way? Or did his parents do it to him?"

"No, he was born that way….."

"Maybe he has brother's and sisters…You could have a whole other family that you don't even know about…"

"I find that hard to believe….I mean, if he did, then where are they? And why would they let him live so lonely?"

"You should ask him….there has to be one living relative of his left…..There just has to be….."

"Somehow I find that hard to believe….."

"Maybe he has a book of his family tree….."

"I'm not going to root through my father's things…. He gets angry."

"Well, you were very brave Gustave….."

I smiled.

"It was the right thing to do I guess…"

"Could I do something?" she asked me….

I wasn't sure what she meant, but I agreed.

"Close your eyes…."

"Why?"

"Just do it…."

I did as she asked, and sat there with my eyes closed….and then I felt something touching my lips….Only when I opened them did I realize that it was her lips! She was kissing me…I found it gross at first, but then the feeling subsided, and I began to kiss her back…..Wait? What was I doing? I pulled away, and we both seemed embarrassed at what we had done…..

"Um….that was….weird…"

She giggled in embarrassment.

"Yes….very…"

"If it's so strange, then why do adults do it?"

"I guess that's their way of letting each other know that they love each other…."

"Then why did we just kiss?" I asked.

"I…I don't know actually…."

"Do you love me?"

"Um….I think so…."

"Really?"

I couldn't continue this conversation…. It was weird, and I felt so embarrassed…..

"It's late…we should go to bed…"

It was as if Reneasia felt the same way….anything to get out of such an awkward moment.

"Yes, right…goodnight, Gustave.."

We both laid down beside one another and covered up.

"Yes, goodnight…."

And then the attic fell silent…. It was strange. Not only had I kissed a girl, but I was sleeping beside her as well… And as I slipped into sleep, all I could think about was if this is what love really felt like? And if my father felt the same way when laying up against my mother as I did when doing the same with Reneasia?

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**Ok, please please review! Thanks guys!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Hey everyone, thanks again for the reviews! I'm very proud of this chapter….It's good. Haha! **

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**Gustave's POV**

The following morning, I awoke to my father pulling me up from beside Reneasia…..and he seemed mad.

"What in god's name are you doing?" he growled.

"What do you mean?" I questioned.

"What do I mean? What do I mean?" he turned me to look down at Reneasia. "That….why are you sleeping beside her? Why is she even here?"

"You knew she was over here." I said.

"Yes, but not to sleep over! I'm disappointed in you, Gustave…..very disappointed in you….that is not appropriate….not appropriate at all!"

I had made my father angry…..I had upset him… He was so upset that he let me go and walked down the stairs to leave me. All the commotion had caused Reneasia to wake up, and wonder what was going on…..I couldn't tell her. I couldn't tell her that my father was angry over the slumber gathering….I couldn't tell her that it would never happen again… Instead I told her that I needed to help my father do something, and took her back to the opera house….. She wanted to help me find my mother's will, but I couldn't, not today. Today I needed to tend to my father and show him that the love I had expressed the night before was still there.

When I arrived back, I went inside to find my father sitting at the kitchen table writing… His mask was off, and he seemed angry, and I knew why. I didn't understand why he was so angry over me having Reneasia spend the night? Perhaps out of jealousy because he no longer had my mother here to sleep beside him? I quietly took a seat across from the one he was in, and rested my head on my arms to watch him continue writing.

"Papa?"

The very words caused him to pause, and lift his eyes to meet mine.

"Gustave…please, just leave me be."

"Why were you so angry this morning? I only had Reneasia over last night because the ballerinas were having a slumber gathering and didn't invite her. She get's made fun of…."

"Right…. I'm sorry."

And just like that, he went back to his writing….. My father was cold, and non emotional when it came to me. I knew there was only one thing in the world that could make his true emotions come out…..and I was going to use it. I got up from the chair, and over to where I kept the stack of letters and pulled out the next one.. I didn't care anymore… I wanted to see my father happy, I wanted to see him cry, and I knew the only way I was going to get this to happen was if I read another letter…. But I couldn't find my mother's stack anywhere…. I began to panic, and rushed over to my father's bag and began to rummage through his clothes without him knowing, thinking that perhaps he had found them….. At the bottom of it however, I was surprised to find my mother's jacket….the same exact jacket that she was wearing when she died…. I sighed at such a sight, and placed it back down, only to find four sealed letters drop out of the pocket….I had thought them to be some from the stack, and immediately rushed back to the table with the first one in hand….

When I retook my seat, I opened it up as he continued writing, and began to read it.

"_June 30__th__ 1881_

_Erik,_

_You're alive! You're alive! I know it, I feel it! Today I received a letter in the mail indicating that I am welcome to come to Coney Island and sing for the closing weekend of this amusement park; Phantasma. It's you… it has to be you! It just has to be….I had thought you dead. But you're not….."_

I stopped when I noticed my father's eyes glare up at mine. He placed his quill down, and I saw a few tears running down his face.

"Where did you get that?" he sobbed. "Where?"

"It's one of mother's letters."

"How many?" he growled. "How many more? How many more are there?"

"What do you care?" I questioned. "All you care about is mother….You never show me any kindness or love…all you care about is her!"

And then I ran…. I ran as fast as I could outside and deeper into the woods. I didn't care if my father was running after me or not! I ran with that letter in my hand towards no where. I began to hear rushing water from up ahead, but thought nothing of it as I continued to run…..I began to hear my father's calls, but I ignored him…. And then it happened…. It happened so quickly that I didn't even have time to react. I was running so fast, that I didn't even acknowledge the beginning of the rushing stream, and fell right into it as I tried to stop myself from doing so…. The current was so rough, that I was immediately swept down stream, unable to stay above water level…My body came across rocks, and fallen trees, that I attempted to grab onto, but they only hit my body while passing them…The water was icy and stung my body with the most horrible chill. I had lost my mother's letter within the water, and I cursed myself for that! I shouldn't have ran, I shouldn't have ran away from my father! I didn't know how far the current had carried me down stream, but I managed to grab hold of a branch that was hanging over the rushing water…The branch was out in the middle of the stream, and the water continued to rush under me, threatening to carry me along with it…. I thought I was going to die…. Never had I ever been so scared in my entire life…. And it was then that I heard my name being called…..

"Gustave! Gustave!"

I looked over on the far away shore line, and saw my father standing there calling my name…..The air was so cold that I could see his breath escaping from his mouth….

"Papa…..I'm..I'm sorry…"

All I wanted was those words to change back time, and for me to still be sitting in my kitchen reading the letter…..I didn't want to be here…No, I didn't.

"Listen to me, Gustave…. Let go of the branch. You have to swim…"

"I…I don't know how…."

"Kick your arms and legs against the current….You must…."

I was so afraid of drowning… I didn't want to drown. I took a deep breath, and let go of the branch and began kicking against the water…But no matter how hard I tried, it didn't work, for the current just continued to sweep me down stream… I heard my father scream, and I thought for sure that he was gone forever… Only he wasn't! Moments later, I saw him swimming towards me… His face was turning blue, and he was shivering…. No! he couldn't be out here! He had pneumonia! He swam straight towards me, and grabbed my hand as the current carried both of us away…. When he latched onto me, he used all his strength to pull us to the nearest shoreline…

We were both shivering, and my father began to cough once again… We were miles from the cottage, and in no condition to walk all the way back soaking wet. I knew if we didn't get inside soon, we were both libel to die of hypothermia…. My father didn't say a word, and drug me up the hill and out of the woods…. I knew where we were! We were only a street over from the opera house! Mirela could help us! As much as my father hated the fact of going back to the opera house, it was for our own good. We snuck inside the chapel, and I entered the passageway that would take us straight to Mirela and Reneasia's room. I was never so glad to see a fire roaring in my entire life….. Mirela was sitting on her bed reading a book, and Reneasia was practicing her ballerina choreography….. They were both surprised to see us…

"What is the meaning of this?" the woman questioned.

Our clothes were soaking wet, and once she realized this, she jumped up to help my father undress….

"Are you crazy Monsieur Phantom? You have phenomena….and yet you go swimming right at the beginning of winter!"

"I fell in…." I replied. "He jumped in to save me….."

"Reneasia, get some blankets….quickly!"

Once my father's clothes were off, Mirela wrapped a large quilt around him, and began to rub the warmth of it over his shoulders to get the chill out of him…..

Reneasia did the same for me, and Mirela sat us down in front of the fire to warm us…..

"Do you want something warm to drink? Some cider perhaps?"

"No thanks…." my father replied. "Just dry our clothes and we'll be on our way….."

"You are always like this, Phantom….. You never enjoy yourself…."

"I did….when my wife was alive!"

"And what am I? your slave that is here to care for you when something goes wrong?"

Mirela threw my father's soaking wet clothes at him, and tore the blanket off of his shoulders.

"If that's true, then you can just go right on back outside…. Get out! Get out of here!"

I was afraid, and Mirela herself threw my clothes at me as well….. Reneasia tried to stop her mother, but her mind was already made up. She didn't want anything to do with us as long as my father wanted to use her like he was.

"Fine!" he shouted. "I don't need any of your gypsy half assed help anyway! You're evil! You're all evil! Every last one of you!"

And just like that, we walked back outside soaking wet…. I shivered as we made our way home, and once we were there, my father had already begun showing signs of his pneumonia again…. He stripped himself down to nothing, and crawled in under the covers, coughing violently and heaving up mucus…

I managed to change into a warm pair of clothes, and took a seat at his bedside…..His illness worried me, and I knew that I had made it worse.

"Papa?"

He groaned a response, and placed his face down into the pillow.

"I'm sorry…..I didn't mean for things to happen this way… I was angry…."

"Just….Just…leave me sleep."

"Why do you hate the gypsies so much? Please tell me…."

"It's not just them, it's everyone! Every damn person on this earth!"

He coughed before he could continue….

I made sure my father was covered up before leaving him rest. I had disappointed him…. All the love I had confessed last night was meaningless after what had happened today…. I decided to take the remainder of the sealed letters, and find somewhere private to read them. I crawled back up into the attic, and opened the next one…. I hated myself for losing the one I had been reading to my father earlier this morning….. But I read on as if nothing had ever happened…

"_August 31__st__ 1881_

_Erik,_

_You're alive! And now I know it for sure….. Raoul has turned into nothing but a complete drunk… When we arrived here in Coney Island, he did nothing but yell at Gustave before leaving for the bar. And then I kissed our son goodnight, and just like that…you appeared. You came right through the door! It was you! Ten years older, but still as handsome as the last time I saw you. I couldn't believe this! The last time I had saw you, I thought for sure that you had died, but you were here! We sang about the night we conceived Gustave together, and how our bodies ached for one another…. And then, my love….our son came rushing in from a bad dream, and you made it go away…..You had no idea that he was even your son, and yet, you made all those horrible thoughts go away….. After he was gone, I couldn't hold out my longing for you any longer, and I kissed you…. Oh, Erik, how long I had waited to do that with you…. I drug you into my hotel bedroom, and I kissed you… Your long arms wrapped around me, and I tore away your mask…. The deformity looked worse than before, but I didn't care, you were so handsome to me….. My fingers tore away at your shirt, and I kissed every single scar you had on your chest…. I'll never forget the way you placed me down on my bed, and began to kiss my neck….It was so wonderful, Erik…. But then something tore us away….The lights had come on in the other room, and I knew Raoul was home. You immediately jumped out the window, but not before kissing me goodbye….. And just in the nick of time, for Raoul came bursting in, drunk… Oh, what a wonderful feeling it is to know that you're back in my arms once again….._

_Christine…"_

Without a moment to hesitate, I reached over for another letter…..But to my surprise, I found that there were only two left…. I immediately picked up the next one, and began to read it.

"_September 1__st__ 1881_

_Erik,_

_Today I met with Meg after so many years….I went to the opera house to find my dressing room, and found her performing. Raoul came along too, and he acted like a total imbecile in front of Madame Giry…. Gustave was there too, but he slipped away during mine and Meg's argument…. When Meg had to get back to work, I bid her goodbye, and began my search for Gustave. I went off on my own, because Raoul threatened to beat the boy…. I came to you realm, expecting to find you alone, but you were far from alone…. I would have passed the building without a second thought if it wasn't for the sound of loud music coming from inside. When I entered, I stood there watching you and Gustave dancing around and singing…. Oh, Erik, it was such a beautiful sight to see the two of you singing together….. Father and son…. You two were one at last! But then something terrible happened…. Your mask came off, and Gustave ran away…and into my arms….. You were so heart broken at such a sight….but I didn't know that you knew the truth…._

_You knew the truth! You knew that he was your son…..and I loved you…. For all these years, you had gone on believing that the child you delivered was Raoul's, when in truth, it was your own…. I know that I can never leave you now, Erik…. I know that I promised to sing and then leave tomorrow night….but I can't, and I won't…. I have a plan, a wonderful plan to get Raoul out of my life, and you back into it for good…_

_I promise this, my love. I am going to be forever yours…_

_Christine…."_

Things were just getting weirder and weirder…..But I couldn't hold myself back from reading the final letter….my mother's final letter…..And what I read not only shocked me, but also made me the happiest boy on earth….

"_September 2__nd__ 1881_

_Erik,_

_This is all going to sound strange to you, but it must be done. I have seen horror within Raoul beyond belief… I have brought you nothing but woe. I can no longer do this…not anymore…..I am sitting here in my dressing room, awaiting for my moment to shine on stage once more….Raoul has begged me to leave with him, and I know that I cannot. Over the last few days, I have come to realize that Raoul will never stop drinking, and he would never let me divorce him….And I know deep down within my heart that if I told him the truth about wanting to stay with you, he would surely kill you… Maybe not today, nor tomorrow, but he would follow us where ever we would go… For the past few days, I have been scared and having second thoughts about what is going to be done tonight, but after seeing you come in here, and the look in your eyes…..the mere look in your eyes when you realized I was going to sing for you again… Oh, Erik, I know you love me….. I now wear this beautiful necklace that you have given me for good luck, and for love…._

_And so it is with a heavy heart that I must do this….Someday you shall understand, and hopefully we shall be together once more…. Tonight while I am singing, Meg is going to kidnap Gustave and attempt to drown him…. But please understand that I would never put my child in any danger at all….and he will soon be in your arms once again. I know that you're probably wondering why? A few days ago, I met with Meg, and I discussed how I wanted to be with you, but had to get rid of Raoul…..she suggested that I fake my own death…. Please don't be angry with me…..But it's something that must be done… And so, tonight, before I dressed, Meg got together with Doctor Gangle, one of your freaks…. She asked him to make us some fake blood, and seal it in a packet that could be attached underneath my dress….. He loves special effects, and making the blood was ever so easily for him to do with a little cornstarch and red food coloring…..After this show is over, you and I are going to go searching for Gustave, and when we do so, Meg is going to shoot me with a fake gun….and I am going to die in your arms… Afterwards, I will be taken away, and a coffin will be filled up with dirt to make it seem as if my body is in it….. You will bury me beside my father, and I, Christine DeChagny will be set free of Raoul and forever yours….. This note is my will…. I am leaving everything I own to Raoul, including my father's violin, which is located in the cellar of the estate. I am doing this in order to make me seem gone forever….. You will have my son….and you will come searching for me….. I didn't tell Meg or anyone else where I was going… I couldn't… If Raoul finds out that I'm still alive, I will never be in your arms again. When I am taken away, I am catching the first ship to France, and settling in Luxembourg…. I will find us a nice secluded home, and I will be waiting for your arrival….. It may take months, and even years to see you again, but I shall be waiting here for you until the day I die.….._

_With all my heart…._

_Christine…"_

And it was then that I placed the letter down, and gasped… All was not lost…. I had found what Raoul had been looking for! He wanted my grandfather's violin! And by god! my mother was alive! And perhaps soon, we could be a family again!

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**Ok, Hope you like the plot twist….More to come soon! Please review and let me know what you think… Thanks!**


	19. Chapter 19

**Hey everyone, thanks again for the reviews….. Please enjoy and let me know what you think…**

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**Gustave's POV**

My mother was alive! She was alive! I was so happy, that I ran down stairs to tell my father, letter in hand… Only when I got down there, Raoul was standing in the main room beside my father's bed…..

"Hello, Gustave…."

I didn't say one word to him…not one word at all.

"You seem rather happy today… what's the occasion?"

"What are you doing here?" I growled. "How did you even know I was here….."

"I followed you from the opera house…."

My father was weak, but he managed to get himself out of bed, and point to the doorway.

"Get….out…Raoul…"

He ignored him, and approached me.

"What is that letter in your hand? Let me see?"

I snatched it away before Raoul could grab it.

"Is that your mother's will?"

"No….but I know what you want… You want grandfather's violin…."

"Yes, I do….so that must be the will or else you wouldn't know what I wanted…"

"It's in the cellar…"

This still didn't satisfy Raoul, for he grabbed me by the shirt, and pulled me to him to snatch the letter….. This made my father angry, and he came rushing over to Raoul to pull him away….. But Raoul hit him…. He hit him so hard in the chest that he fell to the cold floor…. I screamed, and ran to him to help him up… He was coughing up blood now, and shivering from a high fever…. But by this time, Raoul had already begun reading the letter.

"What is this!" he growled. "What kind of rubbish is this! Your mother is alive!"

Even my father's eyes grew wide with surprise….

"Faked her own death! She fakes her own death and leaves me a damn violin! She's alive! And I'll be damned to let her be in the arms of a monster….."

Raoul folded the note, and stuck it into his pocket with a smile.

"Looks like it's time to go find my wife…..and when I do, I'll be sure to punish her for this….and tell her how her son and monster died in a terrible fire."

"What?" I questioned.

But before I got an answer, Raoul walked out and slammed the door behind him. I didn't know what was happening, but soon I began to smell smoke….and smoke turned into fire. The cottage was on fire! I tried to open the door, but it was locked….

"Gustave….what's going on…" my father was kneeling on the floor coughing violently. I rushed to his side, and began to gather his jacket up. I placed it over his shoulders, and broke open a window to get out before the flames consumed us both. I pushed him outside into the cold, before taking one last look at the cottage and jumping out the window as well….. Raoul knew my mother was alive, and he was already on his way to Luxembourg…. We couldn't waste anymore time….. We needed to be on our way as well, but how? We would need a horse to get us there…and the more I thought about it, the more I realized that we were going to be fine!

"Gustave! Explain to me what's going on!"

My father was mad and sick at the same time…. He was pulling the jacket over his shoulders to keep warm, but I knew he needed to get out of the cold air soon or else he was libel to die.

"Mother is alive…."

"This isn't the time to joke around!"

"I'm not….she wrote a letter stating that she wanted to stay with you and so she faked her own death and is waiting for us in Luxembourg."

My father's eyes widened, and he grabbed my arm and pulled me in the direction of the opera house without even caring about the fact that he was shivering uncontrollably. When we arrived there, he pulled me around back where they kept the horses penned up, and began to untie one….but Reneasia was there feeding them, and she noticed us….

"Gustave? What are you doing?"

My father stepped forward, and formed his hands into fists.

"I'll take care of her…." he growled.

No, he couldn't hurt Reneasia…. I wouldn't let him.

"No…." I gasped, pushing my father aside. "Let me handle this…."

"She'll tell on us… I need to silence her for good…"

I heard Reneasia gasp in fear, but I wouldn't let my father harm her.

"She won't tell…" I replied.

"I promise….I won't…" she gasped…

For some odd reason, my father believed her, and tended to untying some horses while I dealt with Reneasia.

"Reneasia, you need to stay here….."

"I can help…oh, please, Gustave… I won't be in the way. I can ride a horse with no problem at all…."

I wasn't budging with this one…. Reneasia needed to stay here.

"Stay, Reneasia…" I warned her.

The girl seemed angry and sad at the same time, but I wasn't budging…. I didn't even give her a second glance after jumping up onto my horse. And just like that, I followed my father's horse into the woods, and away from the opera house and Reneasia. I knew Raoul was already on his way…. I knew his new goal was to reach my mother within a few hours….. My father was taking his horse to the maximum speed it could go, and I was doing the same to keep up…..The wind was coursing through him like a knife, and I could hear him coughing uncontrollably at times…

After an hour of riding at high speed, we came across a river, and slowed our horses down to cross it carefully… Only when we were halfway across the river did I notice that my horse had become in the lead, and I glanced back to see my father slouching over his horse, his arms wrapped around the horse's neck just to keep his balance…. What scared me even more was that he was coughing again….

"Papa, are you alright?"

"Fine…" he choked. "Just fine…keep moving…."

I did as he asked, and continued to check back on him every so often. We had been traveling for most of the day, when I heard a loud clump, only to turn around and see that my father had fallen off his horse and lay spread out on the ground. I immediately jumped off of mine, and ran to his body…. He was shivering, and convulsing as he lay helplessly on the ground….

"Papa…."

I sat him up, and wrapped his jacket tighter around his shoulders. We were still a few miles away from Luxembourg, and then who knew what would happen once we were there…. I heard a horse approaching in the distance, and had thought it to be Raoul, but instead, it was Reneasia….. Damn her! I told her to stay back at the opera house….

"Reneasia? What are you doing here?"

"I have to warn you…. I've been following you all day, but then I saw Raoul. He's only a short distance away…. He has his nephew with him, and he's carrying a gun…."

My anger at the moment slipped away, and I quickly helped my father back on his horse, and hooked the reins to mine…..

"Come on, I know the way…" said Reneasia taking the lead. "My father traveled this trail all the time with the caravan…"

We had to get further ahead before Raoul spotted us. If he spotted us, all was going to be lost…. The girl lead us through the trees, and far away from where we just were…. I had to admit, I had her labeled so wrong….She really knew how to take care of herself….

She lead us to an open cave, and jumped off her horse, and ran over to mine.

"What are we doing?" I asked.

"We need to find your mother… Until then we can leave your father here…."

I couldn't leave my father here…he was slouching over his horse.. How was he supposed to fend himself from danger…

"No, I can't leave him here….."

"He'll be safe here…. I promise, Gustave…."

Why did I trust this girl? I trusted her so much that I was going to leave my father in the middle of no where….

Both her and I helped my father down off his horse, and sat him down in the cave against the wall…. He was trembling, and felt terrible about leaving him….

"I promise to come back for you before night fall…..I'll get mother…"

I tied both our horses up against a tree, and jumped on the back of Reneasia's horse as she lead us out of the woods, and into Luxembourg. It was a city much smaller than Paris, and the buildings seemed a lot older….

"We need to find your mother…" the girl reminded me. "Do you know where she is?"

"I don't know… All she said was that she was going to find someplace secluded to live…"

"I know the exact place…. There is only one place in Luxembourg that's secluded…"

Reneasia took us to an area away from town where there were a few homes scattered a far distance from one another… Slowly, we trotted past each one, trying to figure out which one my mother could be living in….

"How are we supposed to know which one?" I asked.

"Perhaps the one with the big scary horses and your cousin sitting outside the house…."

I gasped, when I noticed the small house up ahead….. It was a beautiful little home on the top of a hill… The most perfect house to live in…..away from people that would want to harm my father, and a nice back yard to tie a swing to… But when I saw Philippe guarding the house, and another horse beside him, I knew that Raoul had found my mother before me….. Reneasia stopped her horse before we would be spotted, and we both jumped down.

"How are we going to pull this one off?" she questioned.

"Who knows what he's telling my mother right now…..we need to get around Philippe….."

"Already on it…"

I looked over at Reneasia, who picked up a hollow twig from the ground, and a few small stones…

"What are you doing?"

"Getting rid of Philippe."

This girl was smarter than I had thought to be…. She placed the end of the twig in her mouth, and placed the few stones inside of it….and then aimed it at Raoul's horse, and blew into the twig causing the stones to fly out and hit the horse's back side… When this happened, Raoul's horse took off at high speed, and Philippe charged after it on his horse…

"Gone…" she laughed, smiling at her success.

"Where did you learn to do that?" I gasped.

"My father….. He taught me lots of things…"

"Come on, we better get going before he gets back…"

We dodged out of the bushes, and into the yard of the house…. The windows were open, and we were both able to look inside to see what was going on….. There in the living room was Raoul cradling my mother who was sobbing uncontrollably…

"There, there, Christine…" Raoul assured. "Everything is going to be alright… Gustave was just too upset over having to live with that monster… He only wanted him to go away…. The boy set the house on fire, and I tried to get them both out….but it was too late…."

The man was lying to my mother! He thought we were both dead….

"It's all my fault…" she sobbed. "I shouldn't have left him…."

"Come, Christine, let us leave this place and return to the estate…. We can start over again…"

"No, I can't….I won't…. I don't love you anymore, Raoul. I loved Erik….."

Raoul didn't let go, and pulled my mother closer to him.

"You're coming with me! You're coming with me if it's the last thing I do!"

I couldn't let this go on….. Quickly, I barged in threw the front door, and pushed Raoul aside…. My mother's eyes lit up upon seeing me….

"Gustave!"

"Mother!"

And then for the first time in what seemed like forever, I embraced her…. Oh, how I had missed her ever so much…. It felt wonderful to feel her warmth against me once again….

"Alright, I had totally enough of this!"

And then I heard the safety being pulled back on a gun….

Both my mother and I gasped, and turned to see Raoul standing a few feet away from us holding a small luger in his hand.

"I won't stand for this… I'll kill you right this time….."

And then the door opened, and Philippe entered with Reneasia in his grasp.

"Found this little gypsy whore outside, uncle….."

He threw her at us, and now the three of us stood there in front of a loaded gun….

"Thank you, Philippe. Giving me more work….." Raoul then turned to us. "I'll give you one last chance to come with me, Christine… If you refuse this time, I shall have to kill you as well."

"Do as you must…" my mother cried. "But I will never regret the love I have for Erik…never again! I have spent the last ten years regretting my marriage to you, and I will no longer hold out my feelings for him…..Burn in hell, Raoul…."

"Have it your way…."

I knew Raoul was about to shoot, but was interrupted when the door opened once again, and this time, my father stepped through it barely being able to hold himself up….

"Oh, the monster returns….You're a little late there Erik…" he sneered.

My father held his hand up in front of the pointed gun, and stood in front of us to block Raoul's aim.

"Don't…Don't do this….."

"Oh for Christ sakes….Why not?"

"Please Raoul….." my mother cried. "I love him….please don't do this…."

"You love me!" shouted Raoul, pointing at himself. "You're my wife…."

"Not anymore….You don't understand. I hated you, Raoul. I hated the way you made love to me… I wanted to scream Erik's name in bed, not yours… I gave my childhood to him….He was my first, and no matter what, you will never be the man Erik is…."

Raoul's hand had turned shaky causing the gun in his hand to wobble…..

"Erik! Erik! Always about that monster!"

Christine came forward to try and lower the gun, but Raoul continued to point it at her…

"I'm going to do what I should have done ten years ago!"

I screamed, oh, how I screamed! But my screams did absolutely nothing… Raoul set the gun off, expecting it to hit my mother, but my mother's angel came to her rescue… Erik spun my mother around quicker than the speed of the bullet, and took it for her….. My father clung to my mother as the bullet which was meant for her entered my father through the side… Blood was gushing out all over the floor, but this wasn't cornstarch and red food coloring, this was my father's actual body fluid…

Raoul laughed at such a sight, and put his gun away, and grabbed Christine by the dress.

"This is even better…..I'm going to return to Paris now….and notify the police…. They're going to be coming for your monster…..I like a little hunt. And when the monster is taken away, you'll be begging to be back in my arms…"

Raoul began to walk away, but Philippe wanted more…

"Uncle, we're just going to leave them here? We could finish them all off…"

"Not now…the hunt shall make it more exciting…"

"But uncle…"

"Come along, Philippe… Now!"

Philippe grabbed me by the shirt, and pulled me to him.

"By god, I'll make it my goal to see you die….."

I was so scared…. I knew that not only were we going to be in deep trouble now, but we were also going to be hunted down like a bunch of wild animals….. My mother rushed to my father's side, and began to press on his wound…. My father's eyes opened, and looked up at my mother with such love…..

"Chris….Christine….."

My father smiled, and lifted his trembling hand to her cheek…..

"Erik, my love….."

My father couldn't die, he just couldn't…. I gathered some bandages from the closet, and rushed back to my mother's side….

"Gustave, grab a needle from my sewing basket…." my mother ordered…

I did as she asked, and sat at my mother's side as she sewed my father's wound up.

"Is he going to be ok?" asked Reneasia, clinging onto my shirt.

"I hope so…."

When my mother was finished, she bandaged him up, and heard him coughing…. Causing her to gasp….

"Gustave, has Erik been sick?"

"He has phenomena…"

My mother jumped to her feet, and grabbed a blanket from off the couch before coming back and wrapping it tightly around my father's body….

"It's deep in his lungs…."

I was so scared, and so upset…. I grasped onto my mother who worked fast and began gathering up some things…

"What are we going to do?" I cried.

My mother slightly turned from packing.

"We're leaving… we're wanted, and we must leave before Raoul gets back and notifies the police…."

"But how?"

My mother drug me outside to behind the house where a small caravan was parked.

"I used this to get here from Calais."

Reneasia had once lived in one, and began to hook up the horses to it while my mother helped my father inside it, and placed him down in a bed to get him warm….

"You can't come with us…" I told Reneasia. "Your mother is going to be looking for you…"

"I'm with you all the way, Gustave…." she said. "I'm not abandoning you now…."

"Reneasia, if you come with us, who knows when you'll ever see your mother again…."

"I'm not leaving you, Gustave….."

And then she hugged me….. We were all one big happy family again, but I could only wonder for how long? And then we were off….Off to a destination unknown…running far away from Raoul and the police…..The three of us sitting on the bench of the caravan as the horses pulled it….and my father sleeping, perhaps even dying in the bedroom…. But we were together…together at last… Mother, Father, Son, and friend….

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**Wow, what a long chapter… More to come soon, and remember, I'm always up for ideas on this new adventure… Please review! Thanks!**


	20. Chapter 20

**Hey everyone… Nothing much to say today except thanks for the reviews. Not in such a good mood today but writing is making it better. I'm just sooo sick and tired of guys it's not even funny… Too much drama. I swear if Erik was real….. Anyway I'll stop my rant now. Enjoy the chapter.**

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**Gustave's POV**

I wasn't sure how long we had traveled in the caravan…. But when the day was at an end, we stopped in a wooded area for the night. After gathering some firewood for the stove inside the caravan, I entered to find my mother tending to my father who was laying in the bedroom. He was awake, and seemed glad to see my mother again….. I stayed hidden in the doorway, and listened in on their conversation.

"Erik, how are you feeling?" my mother placed her hand over his fore head, and gasped. "You're feverish…."

"I…..I can't believe you're here…"

I watched as my mother began to cry, and leaned down and pressed a kiss to my father's mouth…. But not just any kiss, a passionate and full blown lover's kiss…..

"You need to get well….I'm going to cook us something to eat."

"Don't leave me…. Please…. I beg of you. Please don't walk away again."

My mother took a seat beside my father, and held his shoulders in her arms as he coughed. Each and every time he would cough, my mother would sob…..

"I'll make you something warm to drink.." she promised laying him back down…

I believed my father to be too sick to argue, which is why he just closed his eyes.

I ran into the kitchen when I noticed my mother leaving the room. The last thing I wanted to do was be spotted. When my mother saw me again, she embraced me as if she hadn't seen me in years….

"Oh, Gustave… it's so wonderful to be with you again."

"I'm hungry…."

My mother smiled.

"Right. Let me make us some dinner….. Tonight we shall eat our first meal together as a family…. But tell me, who is your new friend?"

"Her name is Reneasia…."

"She's a very nice girl…."

"Let me help you with supper…" I replied, changing the subject.

I had wondered where Reneasia had gone off to, but when she came walking into the kitchen carrying some water, I knew that she had been down at the nearby creek.

"I got us some fresh drinking water…" she said.

My mother smiled at her gesture, and began pouring some into a pot to hear over the fire.

"Perfect. I'll use some to mix the stew with…."

The girl knew how to keep a house…. She didn't even ask my mother if she needed help, she just jumped in and began pealing potatoes. As she was doing so, I set the table, and began pealing some potatoes as well so I wouldn't look bad.

"You're doing it wrong…you're massacring them…"

I had never pealed potatoes before….of course my first attempt was going to be a disaster. But instead of continuing to criticize me, she scooted closer and placed her hands in mine and taught me how to do it right…..

"Like this…" she said. "gently…."

When the potatoes were done being peeled, both Reneasia and I sat there waiting for dinner to be done cooking…. It was strange being together…. The last time all three of us were together was when my mother was dying in my father's arms. When the stew was on the table, my mother helped my father out to the kitchen area, and sat him at the foot of the table… As if he were the keeper of the household…..a household yet to be claimed… for we were in a caravan and not in a small cozy cottage….this was not home. My father sat there in his chair, masked and pale as a ghost… My mother placed a blanket over his shoulders to keep him warm while he ate, and too a seat at the other end of the table… I sat in the middle and Reneasia sat across from us…. I picked up my fork to eat, when my mother stopped me…

'Wait, don't eat….I want to tell you all how thankful I am to be eating here with each and everyone of you….."

And as my mother smiled, I was able to eat… As I dug into my stew, I couldn't help but look over my father and notice him shivering and barely able to keep his trembling hands still…. And then a violent cough over took his body…..

My mother's eyes grew weary, and she shot up from her seat to comfort him.

"Erik, are you ok?"

She rubbed his back sympathetically, until the coughing subsided, and then wiped his mouth with a napkin.

"Erik, are you ok?"

"I want to lay down….I'm cold….extremely cold…."

And then my mother helped my father up and took him away….. The remainder of the night was silent except for the sound of my father's violent coughing echoing throughout the caravan. I lay there that night in the other spare room with Reneasia, looking at the ceiling as my father continued to cough…

"If you keep staring at the ceiling, your eyes are going to freeze in that position." I heard the girl whisper.

"How did you know I was awake?" I asked.

"I've been watching you. I know that your father's coughing is making you worried….but your mother is taking care of him…."

"He has pneumonia….People die from that! don't you know that!"

"Yes, but your mother is caring for him. I'm sure he's going to be fine….."

I rolled over, and pulled the blankets over my head.

"Just leave me alone…..please…."

"That's true love in there, Gustave. Your mother cares for your father very much….. That is true love, and true love has been known to heal every kind of wound possible."

"You need to go back to your mother…"

"I don't want to…. I want to stay here with you."

"Why? There is nothing here for you…"

"There is love! I don't want to go back to being a gypsy….. If I go back I'm going to never know what true love is…."

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't you know what happens to gypsy girls when they turn fourteen?"

I removed the blankets from off my head, and looked up at her.

"No…."

"There is a ceremony of the coming of age. The girl dances around a fire while boys watch me…. They go to my mother and bid on me… The highest bidder gets me as a wife….."

"That's horrible…" I replied.

"I can't go back….. I don't want to be sold off like cattle… I want to fall in love with someone of my choosing, and live the fairytale dream…."

"So your mother was bought by your father?"

"Yes…. I don't want to live like that."

"What if you fell in love on your own, and just told your mother?"

"Because I already did, and she doesn't approve…."

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"I told her that I liked you, and she didn't approve…. She wants me to find a gypsy boy and make more gypsy babies…I want to break out of the circle…."

"And what's going to happen when your mother comes looking for you….."

"Don't make me go back, Gustave….please…."

I never realized how badly Reneasia disliked being a gypsy… and she liked me!

"Just go to sleep…."

And then I rolled back over, and shut my eyes…..

When I opened my eyes again, it was still nighttime. I stood to my feet, and walked out into the kitchen to get myself a glass of water. After drinking it, I walked past my mother's room to see her laying in bed with my father…..her arm was wrapped over my father's chest, and they were both asleep in each other's embrace. I knew they loved each other very much…. I knew that we were all a family at last, but I could only wonder what would happen if Raoul ever found us again…..

The following morning, my mother woke before the sun could come up, and prepared breakfast for us….. It was strange having my mother prepare all our meals…. When we lived at the estate, we had maids to do everything for us. But what was even stranger, was to see my father in the kitchen with her… He was standing behind her, his arms wrapped around her waist…. They were so happy together… Raoul and my mother never acted like this…. They were barely together at all, and never acted like my father and her were acting now….

"Morning, Mother….Papa…"

"Good morning, Gustave…" said my mother placing a bowl of oatmeal down in front of me.

"Erik, sit down… you need to eat as well…. You need your strength."

My father took a seat across from me, and ate a spoonful of his breakfast.

"I think I'm ready to lay back down….." he said, playing with his food.

"Erik, eat your breakfast…."

"Have you seen Reneasia?" I asked. "I haven't seen her since last night…."

"Sorry, Gustave… I haven't seen her either.." replied my mother.

"Maybe she went back to that gypsy whore of a mother….." my father growled.

"Erik!" my mother turned around, and gave him a dirty look. "You will not talk about anyone that way…."

"Sorry, my love….."

I took another bite of my breakfast, before grabbing my coat and walking outside…. The air was cold, and frost was spread out all over the grass…. I began walking down to the small creek, that was hidden away in the brush, and saw Reneasia washing her face in the cold water.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

She gasped in fear, and splashed some water all over me for frightening her as I did….

"Didn't you ever hear of warning a lady when approaching such as you did?"

"No….. besides, what are you doing out here? It's dangerous…"

"I have a right to come out her in privacy and wash my face….."

I heard a sudden rustling in the grass, and hushed Reneasia.

"What's that?" she asked.

"I don't know….. Shush…"

I crawled through the grass closer to the sound, and found myself and Reneasia at the beginning of the path… the very same path my mother drove the caravan off of just last night….. And there stretching along the path were about ten caravans moving along…. I had thought it to be a traveling gypsy camp, but when I noticed the colorful painting on the sides of the caravans, I knew this was far from a gypsy camp… And then I heard a familiar high pitched nasal sounding voice…. I knew this voice…

"We've been traveling this damn path all night, Nymphadora…"

I knew this voice! And then I saw him…. That dark coat….that tall hat…It was Dr. Gangle…. And the woman he was talking to was Ms. Fleck… They were sitting on top of one of the caravans directing the horses along the path….

"Who are they?" I heard Reneasia ask.

"I know them. They worked for my father….I have an idea…"

And indeed I did…. I ran out into the path, and in front of the caravan that Ms. Fleck and Gangle were sitting on.

"Hey! Dr. Gangle….. Ms. Fleck…"

They both looked down at me, and then Dr. Gangle's face turned completely white at the sight of me….

"Well look who it is…. The little master boy…Tell us…..where is your coward of a father?"

"We need your help…" I said, keeping up with the moving caravan…

Dr. Gangle turned to Ms. Fleck, and laughed sarcastically…

"Did you hear that Nymphadora? The boss needs our help…" he then turned back to me. "And where was he when we needed his? Oh, that's right….. Burning down our only home and job…. Now look at us… We were forced to become a bunch of nomads traveling from town to town performing to a bunch of towns people….."

"You could have found another job in Coney Island…" I said. "What made you come all the way over here?"

"Well to make a long story short, boy…. Once Phantasma burned down to the ground, all the freaks that worked there rebelled in anger, and continued to ruin the remains of Coney Island….. The police brutalized us and sent us elsewhere….. The three of us stayed together, and here we are….."

"We're in trouble…. Please help us…."

"Help you what?"

"Raoul is after us…. He's sending the police after my mother and him…"

"Wait? Christine? She's dead…" replied Ms. Fleck.

"No, she faked her own death…."

Dr. Gangle halted the caravan, and jumped down…. He towered at least six feet over me, and his long fingers latched onto my shoulder.

"For your sake, boy…. You better not be lying to us…"

I took him back to our caravan as Reneasia followed. Once there, I opened the door and let him come inside.

When my mother saw Dr. Gangle, she gasped, and my father seemed surprised as well to see him.

"So you are alive…" replied Dr. Gangle. "The boy wasn't lying after all…. But you sir, are a sight for sore eyes…."

My father seemed ashamed over the fact that he had burned down Phantasma…

"I owe everyone of you an apology….. I didn't mean to burn down Phantasma…"

My mother interrupted him.

"What! Erik, you did what!"

"I was upset….."

"Well your mistake has left Fleck, Squelch and myself homeless and performing all over France…. We travel with another boat load of freaks we found along the way…. The boy tells me you're in some kind of trouble…."

Christine nodded.

"Raoul has sent the police to catch us. We've been running since last night to try and stay away from them…."

Gangle crossed his arms, and nodded….

"I am very disgusted with your lover, Christine….. But I never had a problem with you. And that's why I'll help you for your sake…. You'll be safer traveling in our group…. You'll more than likely be passed by sticking with us…. You can perform in our nightly shows and stay hidden from the police…."

My mother's eyes lit up….

"You'd do that?" she asked.

"Yes, for you and you only…."

My mother ran to him, and embraced Gangle with all her might… I knew we were going to be ok…. We were going to be fine… Gangle was right.. We defiantly would be safer in a group rather than just traveling alone… My father didn't seem happy about it, but he had a family to keep safe, and if traveling with his old employees was going to keep my safe, then he was just going to have to grin and bear it…..

"Enough love, Christine….. The sun shall be up soon, and we must move…"

Outside, Gangle placed our caravan in the middle of the line of caravans to camouflage us from being spotted. Squelch's caravan was in the lead, and the strong tattooed man growled upon seeing my father….

"You should have let them die!" he yelled to Gangle from his caravan… "He sent us to the dogs! A life for a life! isn't that the rightful way!"

My mother wrapped a blanket around my father's shoulders as he coughed violently in the cold morning air.

"And he's sick too? Send him to the dogs!"

Gangle rolled his eyes, and hopped up onto his caravan.

"Would you shut your big bald head up before we're spotted!"

"I'll shut up! When you throw that traitor overboard! He didn't care what happened to us back in Coney! So why should we care about him! Tell me that!"

While my mother tried to get my father back inside, Squelch jumped off his caravan, and grabbed my father by the neck, and held him high into the sky, lifting him up as if he only weighed a few pounds…..

"Please….Please Mr. Squelch…" my mother begged, grabbing onto his large arms… "Please let him go… he's sick….Please…"

"I'm your boss now!" he screamed to my father. "You're nothing but an employee under my command!"

My father struggled in his hands, but Mr. Squelch's anger cooled down enough to where he placed my father back down and jumped back onto his caravan.

My mother helped my father up, and patted his back as he coughed uncontrollably….

"Come, Gustave…." said Reneasia pulling my arm to help me up in the bench seat of the caravan…. We were no longer traveling alone, but now, under Squelch's command and part of a traveling freak show…..wonder what's behind it's gates…

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**Ok, please review… The freaks are back in the story! Ideas, ideas, ideas! Hand some over if you got em… Thanks everyone! **


	21. Chapter 21

**Hey everyone, thanks again for the reviews! Enjoy the chapter….**

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**Gustave's POV**

We traveled all day long, and stopped in a small town that night…. It only took an hour for Fleck, Gangle, and Squelch to set up for the show, and it was amazing to see what contraptions came out of the caravans… They set up a stage and wrapped lights around it, and opened by nightfall…. Reneasia and I sat on top of our caravan and watched as the people came rushing in to see the acts…. There were some jugglers, some dancers, a man who swallowed fire, Gangle worked along side of ms. Fleck while Squelch picked up heavy objects and crushed things… it was amazing how they made so much money over something like this…. I thought people in Coney Island were crazy…but now I knew it wasn't just them….

"When I was living with the gypsies, it was like this every night…. We would dance and party all night long, and then travel during the day…"

"Did you dance?" I asked.

"Yes… every night…."

"You should do it again….Squelch is going to make us work for him soon enough…"

"What are you going to do?"

"I don't know… Maybe we could come up with some kind of act…."

When the night was over, and the camp was in darkness, we both noticed Squelch walking towards our caravan.

"What does he want?" asked Reneasia.

"I don't know….let's find out…" I said climbing back inside…

When we were both back inside, we stayed on the top bunk bed hidden from Squelch seeing us. My father was laying on the couch while my mother fed him soup…. Squelch came walking in without knocking, and stood in front of them….

"Evening, Squelch…" my mother replied kindly..

"Good evening Ms. Daae…"

"What brings you here at this hour?"

"I just wanted to let you know that if you're going to be staying here, you're going to have to work…. All of you…"

My father began coughing, and my mother patted his back to help him.

"And him…."

"He's sick… He can hardly stand on his own two feet… How is he supposed to work?"

Squelch crossed his arms, and looked directly at my father.

"I need myself something like him…. I think it's time I had myself a money making freak.."

My mother shot up from where she was sitting, and slapped Mr. Squelch right across the face….

"Don't you ever talk to him that way. You might be mad at him, but that's no reason to say such cruel things. He never did that to you…."

"He will display himself in my show…"

My father sat up, and looked up at Mr. Squelch trembling with the chills….

"I will do no such thing….."

"And what else are you going to do? You're mine now…."

"I belong to no one…. And I will not be put back in a cage…. I will not be raped and taken advantage of by the likes of you…. Now I will work….but as a normal man…"

"You are anything but normal….Show me what a freak like you can do? Me? I can crush your neck with my fist…"

As sick as my father was, he reached into a pocket, and placed a golden frank into Squelch's open hand….

"Close your hand…" he said.

"I will not play games with you…" he argued.

"Just do it…."

Squelch did, and my father waited three seconds before telling him to open it…..and when he did, the coin was gone… Squelch was mind boggled….

"What? Where is it?"

And then my father opened his hand, and flashed the coin in front of him. Squelch was angered by this, and grabbed my father's shirt.

"You play me! That was a magic coin!"

"No, it was just a regular coin…"

"Prove it!"

Squelch removed a coin from his pocket, and handed it to my father.

"We will play with my coin… do it again.."

My father coughed once more, before placing the coin in Squelch's hand.

"Close your hand…"

Once again Squelch listened to him, and after three seconds, he opened his hand again, and the coin was gone…..and in my father's hand.

"How do you do that?"

My father threw the coin at Squelch, and coughed once again.

"A magician never reveals his tricks…"

"Fine…. Can you do more?"

"Much more…."

Squelch seemed satisfied by my father's ability, and left the caravan after warning my father to get better quickly….

"That was amazing…." I said…

When I didn't get a response out of Reneasia, I looked over and saw her curled up into a ball on the other end of the bunk.

"What's wrong with you?" I asked.

"I know who your father is…."

I laughed. "Of course you do…"

"No, I mean, I know his past….."

"What?"

Reneasia drug me outside while my mother tended to my father, and we began walking into the woods.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see…" was all she said.

Reneasia drug me to a patch of woods, and over to a large tree who's bark was carved into…. It was faded, but the carvings were very interesting….

"What is this?"

"It tells a story…. My father told it to me every time we came along this path…."

"What's the story?"

Reneasia pointed to a carving at the top of the tree, and began to work her way down as she began her story…

"It was many moons ago…. My father was living in a gypsy camp with the others and his brother Javert…. One night, the camp saw something moving in the brush, and found a monster laying beside the horses…."

Reneasia moved her hand down to a creepy disfigured looking carving.

"The others wanted to let him go, but Javert insisted on making money off of him…. And the Devil's Child was born…He was creepy, with a face disfigured and twisted…. Javert kept him in a cage and made the monster display himself to many people…. He would whip him and do horrible things when he disobeyed… The monster knew magic tricks and stunned anyone and everyone…"

"What happened to him?"

"Javert raped him one night, and the monster killed him before running off…. It is known around every gypsy camp to fear the devil's child…My father never knew his name, but now I know….It's Erik…."

"My father?"

"Yes….."

"And he was raped? What's that?"

"I don't know, something bad….. My father wouldn't tell me…"

We walked back to the caravan, and settled down in bed….. I fell asleep quickly, and awoke early the following morning…. I stepped outside quietly not to wake Reneasia, only to find my father sitting outside cooking over an open fire with his cloak wrapped tightly around him…. When he saw me, he smiled, and motioned me to come closer.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Cooking breakfast…"

"You should be asleep….. You're sick…"

"I couldn't lay there anymore…"

"Could I ask you something?"

"You're my son… of course you can ask me anything…"

"What is rape?"

My father's eyes went wide, and he turned to me filled with such anger and surprise….

"Where did you hear such a word?"

"I was just wondering what it was?"

He sighed, and looked over at me….

"It's something horrible….something that no one wants to happen to them… I wouldn't even wish that on my worst enemy…"

And then I opened my big mouth…

"Because it's happened to you?"

It took a few moments, but my father nodded….

"A gypsy did it to me…. He forced me into his tent and….and took advantage of my body….sexually…"

I heard a gasp, and looked behind me to see my mother standing there in her robe.

"Erik…" was all she could say as she came rushing over to my father and embraced him. "I had no idea…"

"It's ok…." he insisted. "It's in the past…"

My mother cradled my father in her arms as she tried to comfort him….

As we traveled that day, my father rested in bed coughing his head off as Reneasia and I sat on the top bunk bed playing cards…. My father sounded horrible, and it began to worry me…

"I upset him today…" I told Reneasia as we played.

"With what?"

"I told him I knew that he was raped…. My mother heard it, and got upset too….All I do is bring them heartache…"

"But they're back together… that's all that should matter…"

"Not if we can't be a happy family….."

"I have an idea for tonight… perhaps it will take your mind off of things."

"So you have an idea?"

"of course…."

That evening Reneasia left the caravan for a while, and I didn't bother asking where she was going. I lay there in my bunk, listening to my mother feeding my father as they talked….

"Erik, please, I had no idea you were raped…."

This interested me, and I found myself listening in to their conversation.

"How were you supposed to know? It's alright…."

"Tell me what happened, Erik?"

"So many things happened to me….So many bad things. I ran away from home at a young age and wound up with the gypsies… My master raped me one night… he forced me down on a mattress, and forced himself onto me…. He told me he was doing me a favor because no woman would want me…."

My mother had begun crying…. It was sure that she loved and cared for my father very much….

"Then I worked in Persia…. I was the Shah's magician… She would tease me and do horrible things to me… One evening, she sent a woman to my room and ordered her to sleep with me…. At the time I was still a virgin… I denied her because I tore away my mask only to have her beg me not to sleep with her…. She said that death would have been a better punishment than having to sleep with me…."

"Erik…. Oh, my god…"

"The Shah became angry, and the following morning she had me drug to the court, and I was stripped naked…. The girl I had denied was laying dead and naked in front of me….I was forced on her…. The Shah forced me to make love to her dead body….. I lost my virginity to a corpse…I felt so disgusting…"

My mother sobbed in front of my father, and begged him for forgiveness…

"Oh god…. Please, Erik… please forgive me… If I would have known, if I would have known all this happened to you, I wouldn't have left you in the first place….."

"But you came back, my love…." he cooed. "It was I who continued to leave….It is I who should be begging for your forgiveness…."

And then my mother began kissing him again…. She crawled on top of my father's body, and began kissing his unmasked face… My mother groaned, and so did my father… I didn't understand how my parents had gotten so much joy out of such a thing? I had expected them to stop, but it didn't….my mother had begun to go further.. She began to unbutton his shirt, and kiss every hideous scar that was on his body…. I didn't understand what was going on, but I continued to watch…..

"Oh, Erik…" my mother sighed. "I ache to make love to you again…"

"Indeed…"

I wasn't sure how making love was done, but I was curious…..but before my parents could move themselves any further, a violent cough erupted from my father causing him to sit up.

"I'm sorry my love, I don't want to get you sick… We should wait…."

Deciding to leave them alone, I walked out of the caravan, only to see Reneasia carrying a wooden crate piled with stuff inside it…

"Where have you been?" I asked. "it's nearly time to perform…"

"I've been out getting things together for tonight…."

She dropped the box down in front of me, and threw me a red vest with golden coins sewn into it… I slipped it over my white shirt, and buttoned it up…

"Perfect…." she said. "And now for the resistance…"

And then from the crate, Reneasia pulled out a fiddle…. I was so happy! I hadn't held one since Raoul sold mine off to the pawn shop!

"You can play one, right?"

I snatched it from her hand, and ran my fingers over the strings…..

"Where did you find this!"

"I have my ways….."

When I looked back at Reneasia, she was wearing a red gypsy skirt, and a white blouse…. She looked beautiful!

"Ready?" she asked….

"As much as I'll ever be….."

"Come on then…."

Reneasia pulled me into the show, and positioned me in front of a huge bonfire…. I took the bow of my fiddle, and began to play as Reneasia danced to the beat…. Her skirt flared around the fire light as the music filled the air…. A crowd was drawn to us, and soon, more franks than I could count were thrown at us….

It was perfect! Squelch was going to be sooo happy! And at one point Squelch was standing there smiling as we performed…..

At the end of the night as Reneasia and I went around collecting the coins that were thrown at us, Squelch showed up….

"Ah, you did good tonight…" he replied. "You are defiantly your father's son…"

"It was Reneasia's idea…" I said.

"I'm not talking about the act… Believe me, the act was great, but your music is just like your father's…. you have such skill…"

"What can I say? My father is the same….."

"How is he anyway?"

"Sick…. Very sick…."

"Your father is going to make us much money….."

"You shouldn't treat him so badly….."

"Your papa burned down our only home…. I have every right to treat him as I do…"

"He never treated you badly at all…."

I handed Squelch the coins, and pulled Reneasia away…..

"That man is a creep…." Reneasia replied.

"Tell me about it… I swear once we get rid of Raoul for good, I'm getting us away from here…."

Reneasia and I found a quiet spot near the river, and took a seat on a fallen log….

"What's it like?" I heard her ask.

"What's what like?"

"America?"

"It's nice….. The most amazing place I ever been to…. My father ran an amusement park where freaks lived and worked each day… The food… It was so good. Hot dogs and beef burgers…."

"It sounds amazing…. Promise you'll take me there someday?"

"I will… I want to go back…"

"It would be fun…. We could go to New York and then every state…. I heard there's a trail where gypsies travel in covered wagons…"

"Not anymore…" I giggled…

"What do you mean?"

"They drive automobiles now…"

"Automo what?"

"it's a metal thing with wheels…. You drive it…"

"Oh, that sounds wonderful…"

"It is…"

"I know I'm just a child, Gustave, but I want to marry you…."

I laughed….

"Not now, of course…"

"I know that…."

"You looked beautiful tonight, Reneasia…."

"You looked handsome yourself…"

I blushed in the moonlight, and felt Reneasia touching my hand… I looked down and noticed that her hand was interlocked with mine…

And then I leaned in and kissed her again….. Our last kiss had been weird, but this one was different…. This one was perfect….

When we broke away, Reneasia looked up at me and smiled.

"I love you, Gustave…."

"Me too….."

"Do you think we'll be married?"

I shrugged my shoulders.

"I don't know…. Perhaps…"

"And have children?"

"I guess…."

"I want to travel the world with you….. It be great! Just the two of us traveling around as husband and wife!"

"That's a long time away…." I assured. "Besides, you have to go back to your mother… You can't stay away from her forever…"

This angered her. Reneasia shot up from her seat, and pulled away.

"You can't make me go back, Gustave! I won't!"

"But you must…. She's probably worried sick about you!"

"All you care about is yourself! I told you that I loved you, doesn't that mean a thing to you? It mustn't because you obviously want me to go back…."

The girl stalked off into the night, and I couldn't stop her.

"I didn't mean it like that, Reneasia… come back…"

But she was gone….

"Great…" I sighed. "Just great…."

Moments later I heard a rustling in the brush ahead, and thought it to be Reneasia…..but it was far from it… I got closer to see what it was, only to see a few officers on horses, and Raoul leading the way…. They were headed right for the caravan… I couldn't let them get there! I had to warn my family! I didn't hesitate for one moment, and ran through the brush, to get back to my family before Raoul did, hoping that we would be safe and out of harm's way… For I knew if Raoul reached my father, he would never let him live….

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**Ok please let me know what you think! Thanks again everyone! **


	22. Chapter 22

**Hey everyone, thanks again for the awesome reviews…. Here's the chapter you've all been waiting for….**

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**Gustave's POV**

I ran as fast as I could towards the caravan… I couldn't let Raoul get to my family…. We were one at last… I couldn't let this happen…. I made it to a pile of brush that was just across from the caravan… Raoul and his men were encircling the caravan on their horses…. Squelch was trying to tell them a story about how he hasn't seen any of us… But I believed Raoul to not be believing any of what Squelch was telling him…. I was about to go running out of the brush to distract Raoul, but I was grabbed from behind… I was about to scream, when I looked behind me and saw that my mother and father were hiding in the brush….. My mother was holding my father in her arms who had a large blanket wrapped around his shivering body….. My mother held a finger to her lips, to motion me to be quiet, and I did as I was told….Everything was going good. Raoul and the police had started trotting off, but then….. Philippe came trotting out of the woods on his horse, carrying Reneasia in his grasp as she squirmed and struggled to get free.

"Uncle, look what I found wandering in the woods…."

This changed everything….. Suddenly, Raoul turned around on his horse, and came galloping towards the woods. My mother pulled me to my feet, and began running, pulling my father along with her…. But he couldn't run… his lungs were still weak from his illness, and running only caused him to cough…. He stopped to catch his breath, as my mother tried to pull him….

"Come on, Erik….. don't stop…"

"Go on…" he ordered. "Take the boy and go…."

My mother wasn't about to leave my father….

"No…" she cried. "I won't do it….."

My father broke down into a coughing fit, and no sooner had he begun, I heard Raoul warn his men to turn around and head in the direction the noise was coming from…

"Go now!" he growled…. "Go, before it's too late…."

My mother was in tears, and she grabbed my arm and pulled me far away from my father…. We hid in a ditch, and waited for what seemed like hours….. We heard gunshots and cries….My mother covered her ears to drown out the sound…. But soon, silence overtook the woods once more, and only then did we dare come out from hiding. We walked back along the same trail we had come from, hoping to find my father….. We found him laying in a nearby ditch, shivering, and convulsing…. His clothes were damp, and his skin went from being his usual pale complexion to a light blue color….. My mother gasped, and stood him to his feet….

"Come on, Gustave…."

We weren't far from the caravan at all, and once we arrived, my mother placed my father down in bed…..

"Get me a dry pair of clothes…" she demanded, tearing away the damp ones he was currently wearing…. I ran to the wardrobe closet, and handed my mother a pair of my father's nightclothes…. She worked on him, dressing his body in the warm clothes, and pressing blankets up against him….He had eventually stopped shivering, but the sound that was coming from deep inside his lungs every time he took a breath was horrible… When he tried to breathe deep, he only choked on his on mucus….. He was limited to short shallow breaths…

My mother's eyes welled up with tears…. She laid beside him and sobbed, knowing that he wasn't going to probably live past morning…. This was all Reneasia's fault… If it wasn't for her, none of this would have happened! We wouldn't have been spotted, and Raoul would have went on his merry way….. I barged into my bedroom, and found her cowering on the top bunk under a load of blankets…

"This is all your fault!"

"And where were you when I needed you, Gustave? You let Philippe just pick me up and carry me away!"

"Don't blame this on me! If you wouldn't have been a sniveling little brat, none of this would have happened! My father is dying! He's dying because you couldn't stay put!"

"I didn't know Raoul and his men were out there! Don't blame this on me…."

I plopped down on my bed, and ran my fingers through my hair….

"We need to find help… if my father doesn't see a doctor soon, he's sure to die…."

I grabbed my back pack from underneath my bed, and snuck out the window so my mother wouldn't see me…

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"To find help…."

Reneasia grabbed her cloak, and jumped out with me…

"No, stay here…." I warned her. "I don't want you to come…."

"And do you ever win?"

"Just go back… I'll be back soon. This is something I have to do on my own….Besides, I need someone to cover me until I get back…."

"Are you sure you're going to be ok?" she asked, her eyes full of concern.

"Yes, I'll be back as soon as I can…."

I was still angry at her, but I was more concerned about finding help for my father….. As I was creeping by each caravan to get closer to the woods, I heard someone calling my name ever so softly… I turned around, and saw Ms. Fleck motioning me to come to her… I didn't have time for this, but what ever she wanted must have been important, because she never bothered with me….

"What?" I asked..

She was standing outside of her caravan dressed in her plum colored night attire…She looked down at me, and placed a piece of parchment in my hands….

"What is this?"

"Directions…."

"For what?"

"To get the help you wanted…I saw your father… He's sick, and without help, he'll surely die…. But you can save him… There is a man, a friend of your father's…. Back in Coney Island, he used to come for visits…. He's a doctor….. He once told me where he resides….. Those are the directions…"

I lit a lantern, and jumped up on to one of the horses after thanking Ms. Fleck for her help…. I galloped off into the woods like Paul Revere…. Only I was searching for help…. I followed Ms. Fleck's directions as she had them written down, in hopes to find my father's friend….. I crossed into at least three towns, and over five patches of woods, riding into the wee hours of the morning….. And yet I still wasn't there…. But then, just as the sun was coming up, I came across a flowing river, with a small brick house on the other end of it…. The house was old, the metal fence was falling apart, and the windows looked as if they hadn't been opened in years….. I glanced down at the directions Fleck had given me to make sure this was the right place….and it was…. I stayed on my horse as it crossed over the river, god knowing I couldn't swim….. I clung to the reins ever so tightly, and closed my eyes as I crossed… When my horse made it to shore, I hopped off, and began walking up the steps of the porch…I listened for any movement going on inside the house, but there was none…. The only sound around the entire property was my breathing, and a chirping cricket from the over grown weeds that surrounded the place…. I took one final breath, before knocking on the door….. Perhaps the person wasn't even home…Once again, I knocked, but when I did, the floor beneath me moved, and I fell straight into the earth, and landed I some sort of cage that was placed in the basement of the home… I gasped, and grasped onto the bars to try an maneuver them, but it was no use….. The basement was dark, and I couldn't even see my own hands in front of my eyes….. But then, the silence had stopped, and I heard a angry growling coming from in front of me…. Moments later, the basement became lit, and I could now see the source of the growling….. It was a large dog….. I wasn't sure what type, but it looked more like a wolf….. He was standing in front of the cage growling at me, and showing its teeth…. I gasped, and backed up to the bars to get away from it, but it was no use…. The bars were spaced enough to where the animal could stick his entire head through them….

I was dead…. This was surely going to be the end of my life, but just when the animal's dark, wet nose touched my arm, the growling had stopped, and a rough like tongue began to lick me uncontrollably…. It tickled, and I couldn't resist but to giggle as the dog continued to lick me….. Suddenly, a deep Mediterranean voice yelled out.

"Allah! What on earth are you doing!"

The dog cowered away from the cage, as a tall Mediterranean man came forward dressed in a white shirt and black trousers….. His hair was dark, and he wore a golden necklace around his neck…. He pulled the dog away from the cage, and scolded him for licking me…

"What has gotten into you? Anyone that comes down here isn't supposed to be licked like that! You're supposed to be mean! You hate my mother when she comes to visit for God's sake! But this boy comes down here and you lick him! Bad dog…."

The dog sighed, and walked away with its grey fluffy tail between its legs…. Now the man was focusing on me…..

"Why have you come here? Do you think it's funny to come here and vandalize other people's property?"

"No sir….." I replied. "I came here for help….. I heard you were a doctor…"

"I'm retired!"

"But my father needs help….. He has pneumonia…"

"That's not my problem….. I have bigger problems…one being why my dog didn't tear you to pieces…."

"Please, sir…. My father is your friend…."

"I have no friends…."

"What about Erik?"

The man froze in place, and turned to face me, his face filled with confusion…

"Who told you about Erik?"

"He's my father…."

The Persian man began laughing…. He laughed so loud, that his voice echoed off the walls…..

"You're joking…..come on, really…. Did Erik put you up to this?"

"I don't understand…..what do you mean?"

"I just saw Erik a few months ago…. He was alone…. And he even told me himself that no woman would ever want him…."

"I'm not lying…ask me anything Erik's son would know…."

He bent down on his knees to meet my eye level, and smiled.

"Ok then, little boy….Who is your mother?"

"Christine Daae…."

This only made him laugh even harder.

"Christine? You have got to be kidding me….."

"I'm not…. My mother went back to him right after the opera house fire…. She made love to him….. They made me….Erik is sick….he needs you…."

Everything got silent, and then I heard the man gasp….

"It must be true….. That's why my dog didn't bite you…."

"What?"

The man opened the cage up, and pulled me out of it….

"My dog…. He was found by Erik lurking the streets of New York…. He believed him to be an escaped wolf puppy from a traveling fair… Your father was walking the streets one morning when he found Reza laying hurt on the side of the road….. Erik always had a soft spot for animals… He took him to his flat, and nursed him back to health…. I came for a visit, and Erik suggested that I take him back here with me because I have a great amount of property….. Reza has come to hate every man on this earth except Erik and I….. When Erik would come to visit, Reza would get so excited… But you…. He must know that you're his son…."

"That's because I am…."

"But if you are, then what are you doing here? Erik lived in Coney Island…"

"It's a long story…."

The man pulled me up the steps and into his home….. I stood there while he got a bag of his medical supplies together….

"I'm Nadir by the way…"

"Gustave…."

"Well then, Erik's son…. Let's get a move on then…"

Outside, Nadir ran around back, and came back riding a black horse… I hopped up onto mine, as Reza came running out of the house to follow us….

We traveled all day trying to make it back to the caravan…. When we arrived, I was surprised to find that the freak show had moved on without taking my parent's caravan with them… Night was approaching, and surely Raoul was still out searching for us….. Nadir jumped off his horse, and I opened the door to lead him in….. It seemed as though we made it just in time because my father looked worse than he had before I left….

My mother scooped me up into her arms, and hugged me ever so tightly…

"I was so worried about you….."

"I'm fine…. I brought help…"

"So it's true then…" Nadir replied. "You are his son….."

Christine smiled.

"It's a long story…but yes, Gustave belongs to the both of us…"

Nadir hovered over my father's bed, and began checking him out…. My father opened his eyes slightly, and coughed…

"Na….Nadir you…..fool…"

Nadir laughed at my father's comment, and placed his stethoscope over Erik's chest….. When my father coughed, Nadir listened closely to my father's labored breathing…..

"Erik, where have you been? You sound like you were laying out in Antarctica bare ass naked…."

My father didn't find his humor appealing at all, and just pressed his head against the pillow in agony….

"Breathe as deep as you can, Erik…."

My father only sucked in a small breath before he wound up coughing…. Nadir didn't waste any time in brining out a container of dark powder, and rushing over to the fireplace… He poured it into a pot, filled it up with water, and heated the brew up…..

"We need to get this pneumonia under control before it suffocates him…"

Nadir brought the steaming brew over to my father, and held it up to his lips…

"Now drink every last drop of that…" he ordered….

My father struggled to drink it all, and I heard him groaning as he did….. When every last drop was gone, Nadir covered him up, and watched as my father closed his eyes….

"He's in for a rough night…" was all Nadir said, before cleaning up his utensils…

"Nadir, won't you stay?" asked my mother. "I'll make some tea, and you can spend the night…. It's the least I can do…"

"Sure, I've traveled all this way….."

I left Nadir and my mother alone, and walked into my room to find Reneasia laying down in her blankets…. I ignored her, and crawled up to my top bunk to go to sleep…

"I missed you, Gustave…."

"I'm still mad at you, Reneasia….. Just leave me alone…"

"Why do you have to be so mean? I didn't know about Raoul… could you stop being angry at me?"

"What happened to Squelch? Where did they go?"

"After you left, Squelch told your mother that we were too much of a risk… They carried on without our caravan…."

"He promised to protect us! He broke his promise! I swear when I get my hands on his big bald self I'm going to….."

"Gustave! Stop…."

It was at that moment I knew for sure that I was my father's son….. My father had a temper that was worse than his face… and that temper was beginning to come out in me….. Here I was threatening a man I knew who could snap me in half like a twig, but did I care? Of course not….

"I'm sorry…." I said… "I don't know what came over me…."

"Of course you do, you were angry….. Listen, I'm sorry about running away from you last night. Could we just forgive each other and move on?"

"I guess so…. No sense in prolonging it. Not while we're in danger anyway…."

"So are we friends again?" she asked.

I pulled the covers up over me, and smiled.

"Yes, friends….."

Not another word was said that night, and we both fell into a dreamless slumber….my head filled with fear of Raoul, and the wish that my father would get well soon….

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**Ok everyone, please review! The freaks aren't out of this story yet…. They have something coming… Let me know what you think, and I swear more is coming soon… Now onto write the latest chapter of Phantom Royale… If any of you haven't read it yet, you should…. It's very interesting.. Thanks!**


	23. Chapter 23

**Hey everyone thanks again for the reviews…. Sadly this is the final chapter. I wouldn't worry much, because there is going to be another story up in a few days. Please switch over to that one…. It's going to be another Phantom one. Oh, and I know a lot of you like my stories and I have been reading a really good one by my good Fanfiction friend Rosey Vargas… it's called "The good with the Bad…" Erik rapes Christine, and she becomes pregnant with his child…. It is very good. Please go read that one and review it if you can…. Sadly I'm her only reviewer and it's just such a great story…. Anyway, please enjoy this chapter and more stories are to come from me!**

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**Gustave's POV**

It was scary being all alone in those woods without the freaks… My father coughed all through the night, and into the early morning… I wasn't too fond of the Persian man… He seemed very strange, but he had saved my father's life, and for that, I was very grateful. Over the next few days, my father had recovered drastically…. But we had bigger problems on our hands, we had Raoul still out looking for us… Nadir had suggested that we move forward in finding the freaks, and took over directing the caravan as my father rested… My mother stuck close by my father, and hardly left his side…. But tonight worse things were to come…..

That night, we found a secluded spot in the woods to hide ourselves from danger…When we stopped, my mother cooked us dinner, while I stuck by my father's side, talking to him about what had happened over the past few days. He told me that once he was stronger, we were going to find a nice place to live where he and my mother could be married….. Nadir had gone outside to collect some firewood, but came rushing back inside screaming that Raoul was approaching quickly…. My mother stopped what she was doing to cover my father in his cloak….we knew we were going to have to make a run for it…. I grabbed Reneasia by the hand, and pulled her outside and into the safety of the wooded brush… But Raoul had already gotten sight of us….. I turned around, and watched as he set fire to our caravan before laughing loudly… So loud that it echoed off the trees in the dark of night…. Soon, we were split up… We hadn't meant to come to that, but we had… It was now just Reneasia and I holding hands within the dark, and searching for my parents. I would have yelled out for them, but I knew I couldn't, not while things were like this and with Raoul looking for us with his men…

"Gustave, I'm scared…." I heard Reneasia moan…

But I silenced her, and pulled her along…. We came to a rushing creek, and ran along its path, trying to get back to my mother and father…. But suddenly, Reneasia was grabbed right out of my arms, only to look up and see Philippe on his horse, looking down at me with Reneasia in his arms.

"Well, Well…. Look what I found…"

"put me down!" the girl screamed, wiggling in his grasp.

"You're my prisoner now…."

I picked up a spare tree branch that was laying aside, and held it firmly in my grasp as Philippe laughed…

"What on earth are you going to do with that? Hit me with it?"

I gave him an evil glare, before shaking my head, and swinging it in front of his horse, causing it to become ever so frightened and stumble backwards….

Philippe struggled to keep his horse inline, but soon slid off and hit the ground…

"You're going to pay for that!" he growled, gathering to his feet, and pulling Reneasia closer to him.

"You're nothing but a half-breed! Part human, part monster! And now you will never know what true love is…."

Philippe drug Reneasia over to the rushing creek, and held her over the water…

"Bye bye, gypsy…."

I begged him not to, but Philippe dropped her into the water, and I watched her slip away from me…. I was angry…. So angry! I took deep breaths, and clenched my fists, but I was my father's son….and when my father was mad, he was furious…. All the anger building up within me hit a spark, and I flung myself into Philippe's laughing self…. I toppled him to the ground, and we began rolling around, fists flying, my hands making contact with Philippe's face…..

"Get off me half-breed!"

I hated that name! I was so angry, that I could no longer take it! I picked up the nearest heavy rock, and held it high within the air…

"I am not a half-breed!"

And with that, I brought the rock down onto his head, causing it to split open and for Philippe to pass out….. My anger was still there…. Killing Philippe was not enough to fulfill my lust for blood! Raoul was next! But first, I heard a scream, and realized that it was coming from Reneasia….. I ran towards the creek, and saw her clinging onto a rock right out in the middle of the rushing water…. I didn't know how to swim, but I couldn't let her drown… Without thinking of my own safety, I dove into the water fully clothed, and pounded against the water to swim…. God! How does someone swim! I struggled to stay above water level, kicking my legs, and waving my arms….. Soon, everything slowed down, and the water and I became one… I was swimming! I kicked my legs, and waved my arms in the direction I wanted to go in, and just like that, it worked…. Over and over again I did this until I reached Reneasia….. I grabbed her by the arm, and struggled to get us to safety… By the time we reached shore, I was exhausted and both of us were gasping for air….

"You saved me…."

I spit up some water, and smiled.

"I had to…. I couldn't have let you drown…"

And then she clung to me…. She wrapped her soaked arms around me, and embraced me tightly…

"I love you Gustave…."

Our tender moment was cut off, but a blood curdling scream…. It was my mother! I hid Reneasia in the brush, and told her to stay while I ran to where the scream had come from… When I made it, I noticed Raoul and my father dueling in a sword fight…and it already looked as if Raoul had gotten slashed in the arm due to the blood that was seeping out of his shirt….

"Come on, Monster.." he irked. "Just like last time…. Only when you lose that sword, I won't stop mine from running you straight through…."

"Why can't you just leave us alone!" my father screamed, meeting his sword with Raoul's.

"No! all those years of wanting! All those years of my wife calling out your name in bed! You deserve to die!"

I watched, thinking about what there was to do… What could I do? And then, my father tripped, and Raoul kicked his sword aside, and I watched as it came sliding towards me…. I grabbed it without a second thought, and came running right towards Raoul as he was about to run my father through with the blade….

"Stay away from my father!" I screamed this at the top of my lungs, and ran right in front of my father's body to protect him….Only when I did, I ran my father's sword straight into Raoul….but not before his blade did the same to me….. We both staggered backwards, and looked at each other…. I could hear my mother's screams as I felt something running out of me, only to look down at my stomach and see gushing blood seeping from the wound Raoul had caused with his blade…. My blade however ran Raoul right through the chest… and he gave me one last look before plopping over on his back and dying…

My father scooped me up into his arms, and looked down at me as if he were looking down at a dying animal…..

"Gustave, my son….. Oh, my son…."

Everything was getting dark, and I was finding it hard to breath….

"I… I love you, papa…."

Tears escaped my father's eyes as he held me close to him…. Soon my mother joined him, and I blacked out…..

When I awoke, I was surrounded by blankets, and laying in a bed that wasn't familiar to me…. And Reneasia was sitting beside my bed, grasping onto my hand…

"Oh, Gustave!"

She smiled and cried at the same time, trying to wrap her arms around my bare chest that was bandaged all over….

"Reneasia! Let go…" I ached.

"Sorry…. I thought you were dead…"

"I'm alive…. Where are we?"

Before Reneasia could answer, Dr. Gangle appeared at her side carrying a glass of water in his hands.

"There you are, my boy…. It's nice to see you awake… When your parents brought you here, we thought for sure that you had died…."

I took the glass of water out of his hands, and drank it down as if wandering the desert for years without one…

"So we're with the freak show?" I asked.

"Yes…. Lucky we were only a mile away from where you were stabbed…."

The door of the caravan then opened, and both my mother and father walked in….

"Could we have a moment alone?" my father asked…

Dr. Gangle pulled Reneasia away from me, and both my parents had a seat at the end of my bed…. My mother kissed me on the fore head, and my father grasped his large hand with mine….

"You were a brave boy, Gustave…" my mother replied.

"Very brave…" added my father. "But now we're safe, and sound…."

"Where will we go now?" I asked.

Both my parents looked at one another, and then back at me….

"Gustave, your father and I….. we're going to get married… We want to be one big happy family…"

"And where will we go?" I asked.

My father smiled at me, and squeezed my tiny hand.

"I talked it over with Squelch and the other freaks…. What I did in Coney Island… I mean setting it on fire.. It was wrong… I acted rationally… We're going back. You, me, your mother and the freaks… I'm going to rebuild and run my amusement park again…. I'll be able to spend more time with you and your mother….."

This was great….but what about Reneasia?

"What about Reneasia? couldn't she come too?"

"We will have to ask her mother…" my father replied. "She's probably worried sick…"

"For now, just rest…"

My mother kissed me on the forehead one final time, before my father did the same…. It was strange feeling his malformed lips kissing me, but it felt so right…. I did as I was told to do, and rested over the next several days as we traveled back to Paris…. My father explained to Reneasia's mother about what had happened, and even though she hated both my father and I….her mother knew that because I had saved her, she was in my debt… She asked Reneasia if going to America with me was what she truly wanted, and in deed it was… My father even found it within his heart to forgive Meg, and thanked her for all that she had done for Christine…. And believe it or not, both Meg and Madame Giry decided to tag along to Coney Island…

During the long ship ride to New York, I had to stay in bed so my stitches could heal…. There wasn't much to do, except watch my father perform magic tricks for Reneasia and I, or play cards with Nadir…. My mother would also entertain us with stories…. And at night, I would lay there with Reneasia, and look at both my parents laying in bed with one another, teasing each other with small kisses….. It was obvious that they were truly in love….

When we arrived back in New York, my father wasted no time in rebuilding… He and the freaks helped him each and every day, with me standing close by…. I learned from my father… he taught me about architecture, and how each and every detail counted…. He taught me things I had never known how to do before… He would show me magic tricks he had learned long ago…tricks that he had taught no one else…. But what I loved most of all, was that I was able to play music again…. He bought a flat, which had a grand piano sitting in the foyer…. Each day I would sit there and play for both my mother and Reneasia at times when I couldn't be with my father as he built…. At night my father would come home, and we would take turns playing while my mother sang along to our music….

Life was perfect…..

Six months after coming back to Coney Island, Phantasma was up and running again… And on opening night, my mother and father joined hands at the front gates, and were married with the Coney Island crowd watching…. With the great lights of the Ferris wheel to light the ceremony, and the carnival music providing sound, both my mother and father kissed for the first time as husband and wife…..and Reneasia kissed me…

Having her beside me was like a dream come true…. We grew up together in Coney Island, going on adventures each day, not wanting to come inside when we heard my father calling for us…. We rode rides and hung with the freaks….. And I even spent a lot of time with my father… We were inseparable… And as the years flew by, I came to look more like him every day…. By the time I had reached my twentieth year, my musical ability had become so great, that my father hired me as his own personal composer. I would write music for his theater, and he would pay me for it…..I had everything. Money, a job I loved, my parents, but one thing was missing….. A wife. I loved Reneasia with all my heart… this love had grown over the years….. And I knew it was about time I made the move to marry her…..

My father had been sick, and I had been the one taking over for him with things when he couldn't…. When I told him I was going to ask Reneasia to marry me, his eyes lit up with excitement, and his illness seemed tamed at least for the moment… So that night, I took Reneasia down to our favorite spot on the beach, and turned to her….

"Reneasia…."

She looked up at me with her beautiful eyes, her silky black hair glowing in the moonlight.

"Yes, Gustave?"

"You know I love you with all my heart….. I never regret being with you for one single moment…. I have everything now. A job, a family that loves me… but one things missing… and that would be you… Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

Her eyes lit up, and she began to cry as she jumped into my arms and saying yes over and over again…..

We were married in the fall that year… It was a lovely wedding held in the opera house on Coney Island… our love for music was so strong that we wouldn't have had it any other way…. And as promised long ago, I took some time off and took Reneasia where ever she wanted in the united states…. We traveled by train, spending numerous days sight seeing, and endless nights curled up naked within one another's embrace… Years ago I had no idea how making love was even done… and we both would have found it funny at ten years old…. But on our wedding night, all those childish feeling slipped away, leaving nothing but total bliss and something lovers urged for…

By the time we returned back to Coney Island, Reneasia was already heavy with our first child…. And that following month, he was born… A son. I had a son! A son named Eugene Alexander Mulheim… And even when my father passed away from his illness, I carried on in his place… teaching my children magic tricks and everything my father once taught me….. My life was now complete….And I finally found what I had been looking for….. Or was it my father? Perhaps in the end we both found what we had been looking for all along….. That thing being acceptance and pure love from a family...A love from both father and son...

**The End**

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**Ok, end of story… please let me know what you think, and stay tuned for my newest story… Thanks again to my reviewers! I love you all!**


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